Memoria
by 1458
Summary: "Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories, follow the original timeline." And follow they shall, no matter the conflicting feelings, for they want to stay with their sky once again. A 'reincarnation' fic in which most of the canon characters have memories. Follows canon until Shimon. No pairings. There are 4 OCs.
1. Prologue

"Is everyone ready?"

Tsuna received nods from everyone in the room. He gave a melancholic smile and turned to Kawahira.

"I shall begin then."

Kawahira nodded. "The Tri-ni-sette will respond to your call."

Tsuna nodded back then stood up. With his hands in a posture vaguely similar to a prayer, he burst into high density sky flames. The ultimate dying will, as he remembered it being called.

Byakuran and Yuni responded to his flames. Bursting into flames themselves, they fed their flames to Tsuna. The rest of the Arcobaleno, funeral wreaths and Vongola guardians followed soon after.

"When I finish unleashing the Tri-ni-sette, time will travel back to when you were born. Your soul will merge with the one in the past; memories will remain." Tsuna paused, checking to make sure everyone understood.

"Your physical capabilities will be reset to that of when you were born." He looked at his guardians. "Take the time to retrain yourself. Don't push your limits too far." He received half-hearted agreements at best.

"You are free to change whatever you want to change. However, keep in mind that whatever changes you make will affect the 'future' you expect." He looked at the Varia this time. They averted from his gaze, in attempt to hide their plans of potential mass destruction. Tsuna sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

"In relation to my role as the insinuator of the Tri-ni-sette, I will be born differently. My appearance will change. I am vaguely aware of what the change is, but I will keep it a surprise for the rest of you." He smiled playfully.

"Arrivederci, my dear famiglia." Tsuna released his flames and watched his family and friends disappear in a burst of sky flames one by one.

Members of his famiglia: Fuuta, I-pin, Bianchi, Shoichi, Spanner, Shamal, Basil, Ken, Chikusa, Lancia, Fran

His allies: Dino, Emma and his guardians, Talbot, Kawahira

The Varia: Xanxus, Squalo, Levi, Bel, Lussuria, Lizzie

Mare: Byakuran, Kikyo, Bluebell, Zakuro, Torikabuto, Daisy

Arcobaleno: Yuni, Reborn, Skull, Viper, Verde, Fon, Colonello, Lal Mirch, Bermuda

Vongola: Hayato, Takeshi, Ryohei, Lambo, Kyoya, Mukuro, Chrome

Tsuna looked around the room and took a deep breath. His sky flames retracted back into himself… and with a final burst of sky flames, the room was left empty.

"I hope to see you all again."

* * *

_"Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories. Follow the original timeline."_


	2. DA I -1- Game Start

Vongola Nono looked at the letter in his hand, shaking his head gently with exasperation. Reborn is really eager to train Sawada Tsunayoshi, he though. Timoteo didn't even send any orders to tutor the boy yet. Well, it was very Reborn like to act ahead.

Really, what happened to following the original timeline...

Reborn announced his departure to Japan the moment Sawada Tsunayoshi started middle school.

* * *

"Reborn-san has left already?" Gokudera Hayato stared at the letter in front of him, as if asking it for clarification.

"Are you going to leave?"

Hayato glanced at the speaker before nodding. "Yeah. Juudaime needs me. I'll come back as soon as I can though."

"It's alright. I will be fine. Take your time with your precious friend."

Hayato looked conflicted. "I-I will see if you can come to Namimori as well. I'm sure Juudaime would love to meet you… if he remembered… B-but either way, I'm sure he would still really want to meet you."

Hayato was patted on the head. "I would love to meet him too. I'll see if I can go to Namimori as well after you get settled down. I do really want to see that place."

Hayato nodded. "See you soon. Love you"

…

"Reborn is going to Tsuna-nii." Lambo looked at the letter and smiled. Time to leave for Namimori. Oh, but first, to steal the 10 year bazooka and lots of grenades, rocket launchers and grape candy.

…

"Kufufufufufu… oya oya, the Arcobaleno is early." Mukuro turned to the calendar on the wall.

"Mukuro-sama, are we going to start earlier as well?" Chikusa pushed his glasses up.

"Kufufufu… but of course. I will contact Chrome. Go ask Lancia-senpai to book a flight to Namimori 3 weeks from now. We need to contact the Vindice as well."

…

"Reborn left." Mammon handed Xanxus the letter.

"That Hitman is pretty impatient." Xanxus glanced over the letter in amusement.

"VOIIII Like you can talk, shitty boss." A glass was thrown at Squalo's direction.

"Trash. We will go after the CEDEF brat makes his move."

…

"Hmm? Reborn-kun left? He must really miss Tsu-kun." Byakuran popped a marshmallow in his mouth. He eyed his funeral wreaths. "As much as I want to go play with Tsu-kun as well, Sho-chan will get mad. We'll wait until Sho-chan contacts us."

…

"Reborn-san has left for Namimori." Emma looked at the letter in confusion. "Isn't he early? I remember Tsuna-kun saying that Reborn-san had started tutoring him at the start of summer…"

"Does it matter?" Adelheid asked.

"Err… well… when do we go to Namimori?"

"We'll wait for Vongola to tell us, like they did before."

Emma nodded. It seems that he will still need to wait for a while.

…

"Reborn has arrived…"

"Hn… the baby is early."

"Maa maa… the kid must really miss us."

"Ano… Mukuro-sama said Kokuyo will be arriving in 3 weeks."

"… Waah. Already? Ow… my stomach…"

"What do we do?"

"… Wait for him to approach first. Reborn is very eager… he headed straight for the Sawada Residence without surveying Namimori."

"He's checking if Tsuna really has no memories?"

"Probably. And also checking what his current ability level is."

They heard a mutter of "still a herbivore".

"Ano… Cloud-san, won't it be easier for him to stop being a herbivore now that Reborn-san is here?"

Hibari Kyoya gave a grunt that expressed nothing.

* * *

It has finally started.


	3. DA I -2- Reborn

_"Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories. Follow the original timeline."_

Reborn was spying on Sawada Tsunayoshi from a tree near his room. It was not hard to determine that Dame-Tsuna really had no memories. Aside from having no memories, he also had his flames and hyper intuition sealed. Reborn wasn't even sure what Tsuna's flames currently look liked. Well, it does not matter for the world's best hitman. Reborn succeeded in training Tsuna once (not that he will ever tell him), so he can do it again.

Reborn put the flyer into the mailbox after Tsuna left the house and followed him from afar. Read stalk. Reborn wanted a grasp of Tsuna's current life after all.

All in all, it was pretty uneventful. Reborn watched Tsuna jog with Sasagawa Ryohei, chat with Sasagawa Kyoko, greet Hibari Kyoya and do homework with Yamamoto Takeshi at Takesushi. The three guardians silently greeted Reborn, who returned the gesture. It was obvious that all three of them had trained Tsuna to some extent.

Reborn was content. Perhaps it would be easier to train Tsuna this time.

* * *

Tsuna stared at the bento box on the table for a full 10 seconds.

"Eh! Toku-nee was here?" he cried.

Sawada Nana picked up the box and spread the contents out.

"You just missed her, Tsu-kun. Ara, To-chan made some western sweets." She looked at recipe that came with the sweets. They seemed easy enough to make.

"Oh right, Tsu-kun, a flyer came in the mail this morning. To-chan showed me." She handed the flyer to Tsuna.

"We will raise your kid to be the new leader of the next generation. Grades and subject don't matter. -Reborn"

Tsuna stared at the flyer. "Kaa-san. It must be a scam."

"Ara, but To-chan suggested I call them, so I did. All they need is a place to stay and food to eat. Isn't that wonderful?"

Tsuna blinked. "Toku-nee suggested it? But Hibari-niisan is enough of a tutor" he is more than enough.

"Kyoya-kun is in his last year of middle school right? He will be too busy to tutor you."

"Ciaossu."

Both Sawadas looked at the source of the voice.

"I am Reborn, the home tutor."

There was a moment of silence.

"Ara, such a young tutor. You must be a genius, nee? Please take care of Tsu-kun~" Nana went into the kitchen, humming. She would need to cook an extra portion tonight.

Tsuna was still stunned.

Reborn kicked him in the stomach.

"Oww…" Tsuna cried. He looked at Reborn. "How old are you?"

Reborn blinked at the question. "5"

Tsuna nodded. "Wow…"

"Why aren't you surprised?" Tsuna's lack of reaction was starting to bother Reborn. Had the guardians told Tsuna about the Arcobaleno?

"Well… Hibari-niisan was both the strongest and one of the smartest at the age of 5…"

Reborn nodded in realization. Tsuna must be quite close with Hibari. But damn, Hibari took away Reborn's fun. Well, no matter, Reborn still had some tricks up his sleeves.

Reborn pulled out a gun and aimed it at Tsuna. "My true line of work is assassination. I will train you into becoming a mafia boss."

That caused a reaction out of Tsuna. "Wait, what? Are you serious? Is that a toy? Wait of course its not a toy. If you are anything like Hibari-niisan it is definitely not a toy…" Tsuna rambled on.

Reborn smirked. Tsuna shuddered. "Want me to shoot you once?"

Tsuna flailed.

Reborn put away his gun. "I will have plenty of fun training you, Dame-Tsuna." And then he left to eat.

* * *

That night, Tsuna suffered a full 14 hours of Reborn.


	4. DA I -3- Tomiko

"Why are you following me?" Tsuna complained. He had barely any sleep because of the crazy baby's traps around his bed. Furthermore, he was woken up by a huge green mallet.

"I'm here to train you to become a mafia boss."

"Why would I even want to be a mafia boss?"

"It's not a matter of want. You will be a mafia boss."

Tsuna was about to protest when he saw Sasagawa Kyoko. "Good morning, Kyoko-chan"

"Good morning, Tsuna-kun. Who is this cute baby?"

"Ciaossu. I am Reborn, a hitman."

"Wow, that's amazing!" She paused to study Tsuna. "…Tsuna-kun, are you sad about something?"

Tsuna blinked. "No, no. I'm fine, Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko continued to study Tsuna before finally nodding. "Alright. Be sure to tell me if something is wrong, ok? I need to go on ahead. See you in class, Tsuna-kun." She left for school after giving a cheerful wave.

Reborn jumped in front of Tsuna. "You are sad about something?"

"Eh? No I'm not. Kyoko-chan worries too much… I'm fine…" he trailed off.

Reborn narrowed his eyes. "You regret something."

Tsuna looked down at Reborn in surprise.

"Go resolve your regrets with your dying will." He shot Tsuna.

"REBORN! GO SEE TOKU-NEE WITH MY DYING WILL!" All of Tsuna's clothes ripped save his boxers and a chained locket necklace. He ran in that state to school.

Reborn followed quickly behind, wondering who this 'Toku-nee' was.

...

Tsuna ran on a straight path to the school, right past Kyoko.

"Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko turned to Tsuna's back, worried, and began chasing after him. Mochida Kensuke was left alone in the school yard, his attempt of talking to Kyoko ending in a failure.

In the mean time, Kyoko encountered Takeshi, who stopped her. "Maa maa, Kyoko-chan, Tsuna will be fine. He's headed to the disciplinary office."

Kyoko nodded in understanding and headed into the school with Takeshi.

* * *

Tsuna slammed the door of the disciplinary office open. The two occupants in the room stared at him. He ran up to one of them. "TOKU-NEE, I…" the flame on his forehead extinguished.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Herbivore" Kyoya walked up to Tsuna, "For not following the dress code, I will bite you to death."

"Kyoya… let Tsuna get dressed first, alright?" Tomiko said, already moving to find Tsuna an uniform.

For the first time in Tsuna's life, he had never been more glad that Toku-nee's hair and surgical mask covered most of her face. He did not want to know what her expression was right now. The yellow canary on her shoulder had also turned his head away from Tsuna's view, as if trying to hide his expression. Tsuna turned bright red. Yes, he really does not want to know what her expression is.

Tsuna quickly got dressed and, after stammering an apology for his misconduct and getting mildly bitten to death, headed for class.

...

Reborn entered the DC office after Tsuna left for class.

"Hibari." Reborn greeted.

"Baby." Kyoya greeted back.

Reborn turned to face the girl. "Who is this?"

Kyoya narrowed his eyes as the girl walked in front of Reborn and crouched down to meet his eyes. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you…"

"Reborn."

"Pleased to meet you, Reborn-kun." She straightened and turned to Kyoya. "Kyoya, I will be at the principal's office." She received a 'hn' from him. Tomiko picked some files off the table and walked out of the room, sliding the door close behind her. The yellow canary remained perched on her shoulder.

"Hibari. Who is she?"

Kyoya glared at Reborn. "I changed my timeline. Stay away from her."

"If she does not involve herself I will not approach her." with that, Reborn left the room. He will need to call Fon over later to check who she is. Reborn had a gut feeling that she was not someone he should overlook.


	5. DA I -5- Mochida

"Tomiko-san is adopted." Fon explained to Reborn, "She has a sickness that caused her to hide her face behind that mask. She hides her eyes because that sickness also caused her to develop a strange eye color. She has been living in Namimori with Kyoya for 7 years and has had contact with Sawada Tsunayoshi the whole time. The reason why Kyoya kept her is so that she could do his paperwork for him. Is there anything else you want to know?"

Reborn mulled over the information before shaking his head. "No, it's fine. Any more and I might stir Hibari." This was enough information to satisfy Reborn for now.

Fon nodded. "I will return to China then, my friend. Call me for anything else you may need." He bowed then left.

...

Reborn pulled out his Leon-phone. "Gokudera Hayato. Where are you?"

"Reborn-san. I've just arrived in Namimori and I am purchasing my apartment. I will bother the Skylark later for transfer forms. Is there anything you need?"

"I want you to watch over Hibari Tomiko and see what her relationship with Tsuna is."

"Hibari Tomiko? There's another Skylark?"

"Hibari changed the timeline for her."

"Is she a threat?" The tone of Hayato's voice did not reflect the nature of the question. It seemed that Gokudera did not believe that Hibari would introduce a threat to his boss. The relationship between the guardians is still strong it seems, mused Reborn.

"I don't know. Hibari has told me to stay away from her."

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for her… Reborn-san, does Juudaime truly have no memories?"

"…Yeah."

"I see…"

"You will need to replicate your first meeting with him."

"Eh?"

"Challenge him to a match."

"Eh? But why?"

"I need him to know the seriousness of the mafia."

"…Alright…"

"I'm counting on you." With that, Reborn hung up.

...

The night before, Reborn had explained to Tsuna about Vongola and how he was related through his great-great-great-grandfather. Tsuna showed no desire to become the boss, like his past self. However, the reason seemed to be different. This Tsuna was more preoccupied by the fact that he would be on the other side of the law compared to the past Tsuna who was concerned about endangering people. It is probably due to Hibari's influence, as Tsuna had obviously grown up seeing Hibari bite Yakuza to death on a regular basis.

* * *

Tsuna stared confused at the person in front of him. He had been peacefully going to school when suddenly this upperclassmen stopped him and started yelling at him. Tsuna had failed to comprehend the situation and basically ignored the entire conversation. It took the upperclassmen 5 minutes to realize that Tsuna wasn't listening to him. Enraged, the senior started yelling even harder. Takeshi had step in to save Tsuna.

"Maa maa, Mochida-senpai, what's up? You are quite loud this morning, are you trying to compete with Sasagawa-senpai?"

The recently identified Mochida Kensuke glared at Takeshi. "Of course not. I am trying to tell this idiot that Kyoko is mine."

Takeshi put a hand on Mochida's shoulder. "Maa maa, it's not nice calling people idiots, Mochida-senpai."

"Kyoko-chan is ...yours?" Tsuna finally spoke.

"YES, YES, that's what I've been trying to tell you." Mochida screamed.

"Since when was Kyoko-chan … yours?" As far as Tsuna knew, Kyoko-chan was single and not an object that can be owned. Plus, he has never even seen this Mochida person before. As Kyoko-chan's childhood friend, it would be hard to not know someone who 'owned' her.

"SINCE ALWAYS. Now you! Stay away from her."

"I'm sorry but I'm sure that Kyoko-chan doesn't belong to you-"

"THAT'S IT! I'M CHALLENGING YOU TO A KENDO MATCH. GYM. LUNCH." Mochida stormed off.

Tsuna blinked. "Wait what? How is that related?" he asked Takeshi.

"Ahahaha… who knows? It seems that Mochida-senpai has made Kyoko-chan the prize of this match though."

"… Ha? But won't Onii-san go after the winner of Kyoko-chan? And won't Hibari-niisan bite the winner to death for owning another person? Plus there's no way the student council will keep quiet."

Reborn kicked the back of Tsuna's head from nowhere. "Dame-Tsuna, just go win the match and everything will be fine."

"I don't know how to do Kendo. Takeshi, why don't you go instead?"

"Ahaha… he didn't challenge me though…" Takeshi nodded at Reborn. "Who's this kid?"

"Eh? Ah! Reborn, what are you doing here?"

"I'm teaching you how to become a mafia boss."

"Takeshi! Ignore what Reborn says, he's playing some complicated game." Tsuna ran into the school, leaving Reborn behind.

"Ahaha… a game? Can I join?" Takeshi asked Reborn.

"..." Reborn jumped onto Takeshi's shoulder. "… Gokudera Hayato arrived in Namimori this morning. He will transfer into your class tomorrow."

"Oh Hayato's here?" Takeshi beamed. "This will be fun."

"What do you know about Hibari Tomiko?"

"Miko-senpai? She is like Tsuna's big sister." Takeshi responded as the bell rang. "Well, I need to go. See you around, Reborn."

"Ah. I'll be at the match."

* * *

Kyoko, like much of the school, had heard about the match due to the volume of Mochida's yelling. Hana was absolutely furious, complaining about monkeys non-stop. She forced Tsuna to win even though Tsuna pointed out that the student council, the Hibaris and Sasagawa Ryohei wouldn't keep quiet (in fact, the only reason why Ryohei had not gone after Mochida yet was because he was out of town for the day. That was also the reason why Mochida had the courage to yell about his ownership over Kyoko). Something about putting the monkey to his place.

Hana was an acquaintance of Tsuna. She did not call him a monkey, though it is mostly due to his relationship with Hibari Tomiko, Hana's idol. Toku-nee was actually quite difficult to meet. Only those brave enough to venture into the DC office would actually see her. Tsuna was one of those rare people, having grown up with both Hibaris, though that does not stop him from getting bitten to death for entering the office at a bad time or without purpose.

While in middle school, only the staff, the DC, SC and some selected few students knew the appearance of Hibari Tomiko Hime-sama. The other students only heard multiple rumors and legacies that Hime-sama left behind.

...

In any case, Tsuna found himself in the Gym at lunch, with a pile of Kendo equipment in front of him. He quickly found himself forced into armor that is much too heavy to be useful and a super heavy shinai stuffed into his hand. He just stood there, unsure what to do. He had never played Kendo in his life and has no idea what the rules were. Tsuna was starting to regret not watching Takeshi practice.

Mochida, on the other hand, was slightly surprised that Tsuna was still standing even with the weighted equipment on. However, it didn't matter, because Mochida will win no matter what. He even had the judge on his side to ensure his victory.

"Kid, good job for not running away." Mochida sneered at the confused Tsuna. "This will be a three point match, and of course the prize is Sasagawa Kyoko!" He declared, gesturing Kyoko.

"Tsuna. Beat up that monkey!" Hana called from beside Kyoko. The rest of the audience had a very wide range of reactions, most watching just to enjoy the show.

* * *

Takeshi leaned on the back of the gym, beside the door. Reborn leapt onto his shoulder.

"Yo, kid." Takeshi greeted.

"Yamamoto." Reborn greeted back. "Dame-Tsuna is quite strong." It was obvious that the equipment was weighted. Reborn was delighted that Tsuna was not even breaking a sweat swinging the shinai. The only problem that Tsuna actually had was that he could not balance himself to make any hits. He was too focused on dodging all the hits Mochida gave him.

"Ahaha… Hibari, Senpai and I trained him for years. There's no way Hibari would let him be any weaker than this." Takeshi laughed. "Are you going to shoot Tsuna?"

Reborn took out his gun. "Dame-Tsuna doesn't even know what a point in kendo is."

"Maa maa… Tsuna never really liked swinging swords…"

Reborn gave the slightest nod at the statement and fired.

"REBORN! PREVENT MOCHIDA FROM OWNING KYOKO-CHAN WITH MY DYING WILL!"

The heavy armor disintegrated. Everyone stared at the near naked Tsuna in shock. Tsuna began swinging the shinai at Mochida randomly, successfully hitting him multiple times. However, the judge did not raise the flag.

"Maa maa… Tsuna got many points by now, right?" Takeshi straighten.

Reborn frowned. "Mochida obviously rigged it…" Takeshi took a step forward. "Where are you going?" Reborn asked.

Takeshi pulled out a folded piece of paper between his fingers. "I'm going to help Tsuna win." Confused, Reborn jumped off of Takeshi's shoulder and watched from the balcony within the gym.

...

Takeshi walked up to the judge with a smile. "Senpai."

The judge turned to him. "Oh, Yamamoto. What do you want? I am the judge, it doesn't matter how much kendo you know. If I don't think the kid has the point, he doesn't have the point."

"Maa maa, I'm not here to criticize you." By now, everyone was watching this exchange. "I have something for you." He handed the judge the letter. "It is from Miko-senpai."

The judge stared at the name on the letter in horror. "F-from… H-hime-sama?"

"Haha, yup." Takeshi beamed. "By the way, do you know who 'the kid' that Mochida-senpai is having a match with is?"

The judge shook his head in confusion. At this, Takeshi bent near the judge's ear and whispered something. Takeshi pulled back slowly, as the judge began paling to the point he became as white as a the letter. His entire body trembled as he turned to look at the letter again.

"Maa maa, if you don't want to read it, it's fine. Miko-senpai told me to destroy it if you don't want to."

The judge slowly turned to Takeshi with hope in his eyes. Takeshi smiled and took the letter, ripping it to pieces. He gathered the scraps of paper and put it in his pocket. "Senpai."

The judge snapped out of his trance. He turned to the two combatants. Tsuna had lost the flame on his head the moment Takeshi stepped into the scene. "I declare … 'the kid'… the winner of this match." He raised Tsuna's flag. The gym roared to life. Mochida gaped.

"Tsuna, let's get you some clothes." Takeshi led the confused Tsuna out of the gym. Hana and Kyoko followed behind. They passed by Hibari Kyoya. Kyoya looked at Takeshi, who slightly nodded with a hard look in his eyes. Kyoya gave an irritated grunt and entered the gym. They could hear his catchphrase from outside.

* * *

"Takeshi, what did Toku-nee write to that senpai?" Tsuna asked, after getting dressed. Hana and Kyoko also looked curiously at Takeshi.

"Ahahaha, she didn't write anything actually. I told her about the match earlier then she gave me a folded blank piece of paper and wrote her name on the front." He showed them the scraps of paper.

"I need to thank Toku-chan later." Kyoko smiled, very glad that the situation ended 'peacefully'. Mochida would not challenge Tsuna any time soon.

Hana instantly suggested that she go with Kyoko right now. The three of them, plus Tsuna, then headed to the disciplinary office. Since the Skylark was in the gym, it was relatively safe to go there right now.

...

"Yamamoto." Reborn appeared in front of Takeshi, fedora hiding his eyes. "What did you say to the judge?"

Takeshi gave a small smile. "I called Tsuna the Hibaris' 'little brother'. Well, he is more of Miko-senpai's little brother compared to Hibari's…" Takeshi shrugged. "It is pretty much the same thing though." He left Reborn and headed back into the school.

Reborn stood there, unsure of how he should react. Hibari Tomiko obviously had some power over the students of the school. She could be a potential threat to Tsuna.

* * *

author's note:

thank you for reading 'Memoria'~  
is actually quite confusing to use...  
well, i'll get used to it with time, probably  
the chapter title is purposely "5" instead of "4"  
"4" is Fon's chapter but i am going to release it later due to reasons...  
this story might seem OC-centric for a while but i assure you that it is Tsuna-centric  
i just need the OC to layout the background  
the OC will remain important in the future, but considerably less so

-1458


	6. DA I -6- Hayato

"This is our new student, Gokudera Hayato. He is from Italy."

Hayato glared at everyone and everything, like usual. When he saw Takeshi waving at him, he glared even harder. Then he saw Sawada Tsunayoshi. Hayato studied Sawada Tsunayoshi carefully, memorizing each detail. This one looked very different from the past one. Lighter and spikier hair, darker and narrower eyes. Overall, this Sawada Tsunayoshi looked more masculine.

While Hayato was staring at Tsuna, the teacher was trying to get him to his seat. As usual, Hayato completely ignored the teacher. The whole class sweat dropped. As for Tsuna... he was getting very nervous as this new kid was staring at him so intently. In the end, Takeshi had to step in to save Tsuna and help the teacher start his lesson.

"Hayato~" Takeshi called.

Instantly Hayato snapped his attention at Takeshi "What, baseball freak."

"Go to your seat, you can look at Tsuna's face later."

Hayato blinked and went to his seat. Tsuna blushed and inwardly cursed Takeshi for making him feel more awkward.

…

At lunch, Tsuna found himself dragged by Hayato to the back of the school.

"You. Vongola Decimo. Fight me." Hayato said, monotone.

Reborn appeared out of nowhere to clarify the situation and save Hayato's poor acting. "The loser serves the winner."

Tsuna blinked. "Wait what?"

Reborn kicked Tsuna. "Just fight him."

Hayato robotically pulled out a few dynamites.

"Oh by the way, this is Smoking Bomb Hayato, he is know for hiding a huge supply of dynamite on his body."

Tsuna looked at Reborn in horror. "Are you serious? Dynamite? The stuff that goes boom? Hibari-niisan will bite me to death!"

Reborn kicked Tsuna again. "Just fight him."

Tsuna turned to look at Hayato. By now, Hayato was sweating bullets. He did not know how to do this without hurting his precious Juudaime. All the dynamite in his hands were smoke bombs, but even they can cause minor damage and could potentially irritate Juudaime's skin.

Reborn saw Hayato's hesitation and shot a bullet near him. This seems to have worked, as Hayato finally tossed the bombs at Tsuna, albeit weakly. If Tsuna studied the trajectory, he would have realized that the bombs stopped no where near him or the school.

Fortunately for Hayato, Tsuna was in the middle of a freak out. The moment he saw the bombs leave his hands, he lunged towards them in an effort to put them out. Reborn decided to help Tsuna out by shooting the dying will bullet at him.

"REBORN! PREVENT THE SCHOOL FROM BEING DAMAGED WITH MY DYING WILL!"

Tsuna worked hard diffusing the smoke bombs.

Hayato noticed Tsuna's hands reddening and began to cry in agony. Not wanting Tsuna to get any more hurt, he purposely dropped a lit smoke bomb at his feet. It exploded under him. However, because it was a smoke bomb, it caused no damage. As a result, Hayato had to drop to the floor, lay on his back, and cry in fake pain. "You win, Juudaime. I will serve you forever." He dramatically said on the floor.

Takeshi chose this moment to break Hayato's drama. "Ahaha… what are you doing Hayato, you look funny."

Hayato jumped up. "Stupid baseball freak, I was in the middle of dying."

Takeshi laughed. "Ahaha… sorry for interrupting Hayato." He turned to poor confused Tsuna. "Tsuna, I brought you some clothes."

Tsuna gratefully accepted the clothes. He looked at Hayato in confusion. "Is he… part of the family?"

"Yup!" Takeshi slung an arm around Hayato's neck. "This is Gokudera Hayato. He has all these cool fireworks on him."

"Dynamite! They are dynamite, idiot." Hayato yelled.

"Maa maa… same thing."

Hayato then began a lengthy explanation of how dynamite and fireworks were chemically different. Takeshi just laughed. Tsuna sweat dropped.

"Um… " Tsuna tried to interject but failed. Reborn landed in front of him.

"You know about the family?" Reborn asked, expressionless.

"know about?" Tsuna tilted his head slightly. "You mean that it's full of strong people that protect each other?"

Reborn blinked twice at the answer. "Who taught you that?"

"Hibari-niisan."

Reborn blinked again. He could understand the strong part, but how did Hibari manage to teach Tsuna about protecting? Reborn shrugged. Well whatever, it saved him a little time.

"Reborn…" Reborn looked at him. "Does that mean that you are part of the family too?"

"Maybe." With that, Reborn disappeared to wherever he goes.

...

"Herbivore"

Takeshi, Hayato and Tsuna all turned towards the voice at once.

"For attempt destruction of Namichu, I will bite you to death."

"SKYLARK. I DIDN'T EVEN DAMAGE ANYTHING." Hayato screamed as he ran across the schoolyard. He was not as suicidal as before and was definitely not going to throw himself in front of the Skylark for no reason, especially when he was ill-equipped.

Kyoya began to chase after the bombing herbivore, but stopped shortly in front of Tsuna. He patted Tsuna on the head once. "Good job." then he chased after Hayato.

Tsuna was overjoyed at the rare compliment. Takeshi laughed beside him. "Oh yeah, Takeshi" Takeshi focused on Tsuna "Is Gokudera-san strong?"

Takeshi nodded. "Yup. He's more of the 'Sol-nii' kind of strong though."

Tsuna stared at Hayato with a new perspective. "Wow, this is the first time I met someone that is also the Sol-nii kind of strong."

"Ahaha… yeah. Don't tell Hayato though."

Tsuna was confused as to why but nodded anyways.


	7. DA I -7- Nezu

While Hayato's temper was considerably lower than the past, it did not stop him from overreacting when egoistic idiots berate his beloved Juudaime. That was a shared trait amongst the guardians. However, Hayato was called out for it most often because he was the most destructive property-wise. As a result, Hayato had ironically the highest tolerance against insults.

So when Hayato 'attacked' Nezu Dohachiro for continually insulting Tsuna's test paper, it was undeniably agreed upon that Nezu had gone way too far.

Tsuna's grade wasn't even the lowest; in fact, it was average. His test just happened to be on the top of the pile when Nezu started his rant about how he was first-class and everyone else wasn't. This unfortunately led to Nezu directing his rant at Tsuna personally.

After a long 5 minutes, Gokudera Hayato jumped out of his seat in rage and walked to the teacher. Takeshi instantly responded to Hayato, quickly grabbing his arms before explosives appeared into view. Tsuna also ran to Hayato, already trying to calm him down.

All would have been fine, if Nezu did not step back in fear and consequently slipped and hit the back of his head on the ledge of the blackboard.

...

Somehow, Nezu managed to bring them to the principal.

"Principal! Expel them!"

The principal looked at the three students then at Nezu. "Now, now… I can't just expel a student without a good reason-"

"Good reason?! They attacked me! I was hit on the head! What if I suffered brain damage?! The world wouldn't survive without enough elites!"

"Nezu-san… I do not believe you are seriously harmed…"

"Principal. I believe you said something about a time capsule that you could not find."

"Eh?"

"Make these three find it as punishment. If they can't find it, expel them!"

The principal ended up agreeing, somehow.

...

The three of them left the principal's office.

Instantly, Hayato dropped to the floor in a seiza and began to bang his head on the ground. "I'M SORRY JUUDAIME. BECAUSE OF ME, YOU ARE GOING TO BE EXPELLED."

It took the combined efforts of Tsuna and Takeshi to drag Hayato off the ground.

"G-gokudera-san, it's not your fault." Tsuna was frantically trying to calm Hayato down.

"Maa maa, we aren't expelled yet, let's try to find this time capsule."

"JUUDAIME, I WILL FIND THIS CAPSULE RIGHT AWAY." Hayato pulled out a lot of dynamite.

"Gokudera-san! It's alright… we don't need to find the capsule. Please don't destroy the school…" Tsuna pulled a confused Hayato with him and headed to the disciplinary office. Takeshi followed behind, laughing.

They stopped in front of the DC office.

"Gokudera-san, please keep quiet ok? I don't Hibari-niisan to wake up…" Tsuna knew that it was Kyoya's nap time right now and learned from experience that it was a very dangerous time to make noise in Kyoya's immediate vicinity.

Hayato instantly nodded and slammed both hands over his mouth. Tsuna gently knocked on the door twice and stepped backwards. A few seconds later, the door quietly slid open and Tomiko stepped out. She slid the door closed behind her.

"Tsuna? What's wrong?" Tsuna would normally avoid the DC office at this time like it was the plague.

"Toku-nee… um…" Tsuna twiddled his fingers. "I need to find a time capsule or I will be… e-expelled…"

Tomiko just stared at him for a few seconds before rubbing her temple. "There is no time capsule on Namimori Middle School grounds."

Hayato jumped forward. Takeshi instantly pulled him back. "Maa maa, Hayato, calm down."

"Shut up baseball freak." He turned to Tomiko. "You. What do you mean there's no time capsule. Do you want Juudaime to be expelled?"

Tsuna stood in front of Tomiko protectively. "Gokudera-san, Toku-nee would never want me expelled. If she says there's no time capsule there is no time capsule." He turned to Tomiko. "I'm sorry Toku-nee…"

Tomiko shook her head. "You did nothing wrong." She turned her head slightly to face Hayato. "He is…?"

"Eh? Um… This is Gokudera Hayato, he is my classmate." Unknown to Tsuna, the statement stabbed Hayato like 10 spears.

Tomiko nodded. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you, Gokudera-san. Please take care of Tsuna, nee?" She patted Tsuna on the head. "Tsuna, don't worry about the time capsule or being expelled. Kyoya and I will take care of it."

Tsuna beamed. "Thank you, Toku-nee. I will go back to class now. See you later." Tsuna turned around and headed for class. The sooner he got out of this area, the longer he would live.

"Haha, thanks Miko. Nezu kinda went bang on the blackboard eraser ledge then whoosh we found ourselves in the principal's office." Takeshi explained.

"… Nezu…? …Nezu Dohachiro?" Tomiko did not sound happy.

"Yup. Well, I need to head back to class as well. See ya" Takeshi waved at Tomiko and dragged Hayato down the hall.

When they were out of sight, Tomiko sighed and leaned back, leaning against the wall beside the DC office door. The door slid open shortly after.

"I will bite that herbivore to death for suggesting the destruction of Namichu grounds." The only way to uncover a time capsule was to dig, after all.

Tomiko got off the wall and turned to the door. "…I am curious as to why the principal agreed."

Kyoya grunted in agreement. "Tetsu." Kusakabe Tetsuya appeared.

"Tetsuya-san, can you get the security footage for the principal's office?" Tomiko asked.

Kusakabe nodded and headed off to fulfill the order.

* * *

"Baseball freak."

Takeshi stopped walking and turned around.

"What is Hibari Tomiko's relationship with Juudaime?"

Takeshi gave Hayato a huge smile. "Miko is Tsuna's savior."

Hayato blinked, having not expected that answer. "Savior? Juudaime was in serious trouble."

At this, Takeshi's face fell. "Yeah… it was last year… Tsuna got bullied and almost failed school. Miko prevented Tsuna from failing."

Hayato was about to demand what Takeshi was doing while Juudaime was being harassed, but the look on Takeshi's face stopped him. It was obvious that Takeshi really regretted it. "…The girl is Juudaime's savior…" Hayato mumbled.

"Maa maa, Miko is also Tsuna's first friend and kinda like an older sister to him. She's been helping him even before I moved to Namimori."

Hayato nodded at the information as they entered the classroom.

* * *

"… Yes, we received it… Yes. Thank you… No, it's fine. You don't need to appear. Kyoya and I will take care of it ourselves. It's a problem within the school administration after all… Really, don't worry about it-"

Kyoya grabbed the phone from Tomiko. "Herbivore. We can handle it." He then hung up.

Tomiko sighed. "You didn't need to hang up on him…"

"The herbivore was annoying."

Tomiko just shook her head slightly. She picked up the file on the table and flipped through it. Kyoya read it over her shoulder. He gave a smirk when they reached the end. "This is probably enough." Tomiko restored the file's order.

"Hn." Kyoya exited the DC office with Tomiko. "Tetsu."

"Inchou. Here is the footage."

They watched the footage in silence. Kyoya began to produce a dark aura. He stormed into the principal's office. Tomiko and Kusakabe trailed behind.

Kyoya slammed the door to the principal's office open and within 5 seconds, the principal found himself tied to his chair. "Herbivore…" Kyoya growled. "For being a herbivorous herbivore, I will bite you to death."

The poor principal looked at him in confusion.

"Kyoya…" Tomiko walked up beside Kyoya. "At least explain it to him properly."

The principal began to tremble in fear. "H-hime-sama. W-what happened?" If both Hibaris were in his office, something very bad must have occurred.

Both Hibaris said nothing. Kusakabe stepped forward and showed the principal the footage of him weakly obeying the demands of Nezu expelling three students.

"Ah…" The principal did not bother to question how they got this footage.

"Principal… I do not recall Nezu Dohachiro being one of the teachers of Namichu." Tomiko said, after asking Kusakabe to leave the room to call Nezu-sensei to the principal's office.

"Ah, um…" Kyoya growled. "H-he was recommended by a friend of mine after Ritsu-san suddenly quit because he needed to head back to his hometown." The principal stammered.

"…Why wasn't I informed?"

"E-err, u-um…" Kyoya pressed a tonfa against the herbivore's neck. He was growing more and more impatient by the second. "I am sincerely sorry, Hime-sama." The principal bowed as much as he could while tied to the chair.

"Principal… you are free to hire whomever you want as your staff, however it would be recommendable if you perform a full background check on them before hiring." She slid a file on his desk in front of him. The file was labelled 'Nezu Dohachiro's academic record'. Tomiko helped the principal flip through the pages as he read still tied to the chair. When he reached the end, he shakily looked up at Tomiko.

"…I am sincerely sorry, Hime-sama. I will fix my mistakes right away." Tomiko nodded and Kyoya unbound the principal. The two of them moved to the side of the room.

A minute later, Nezu entered the room.

"Principal, were you looking for me?"

"Eh, yeah. Nezu-san. I am sorry but I will have to ask you to immediately resign from your position."

Nezu gave a pleasantly shocked expression. "W-what? Are you serious? Why?"

The principal slid the file towards Nezu. Nezu walked forward to look at the file and froze. "W-what? H-how…"

The principal said nothing, instead nodding towards the two other occupants in the room. Nezu turned to look at them and began to sweat bullets.

"Herbivore. For multiple offences, I will bite you to death."

"Nezu-san, I will kindly inform you that the file in front of you has been distributed to the other schools in the district. Please refrain from bullying your students and peers in the future. Principal, I will meet with you later to discuss the events that happened today in more detail. The forms will be prepared within an hour. Please excuse me." Tomiko bowed and left the room to let Kyoya do his biting in peace. She nodded to Kusakabe, who was standing outside to guard the room.

* * *

A black canary with a white dash above its beak flew into the classroom and onto Tsuna's shoulder at lunch. Tsuna looked at the canary and beamed. "Toku-nee wants to see me?"

The canary nodded twice. Tsuna shot up and quickly walked to the DC office. Takeshi and Hayato followed after him.

"Baseball freak, what is that black bird? I thought Hibari only had yellow birds."

"Haha, that's Miko's bird. Hibari doesn't have any birds yet remember? You know that yellow bird that was on her shoulder with the spiky feathers? That's also Miko's bird. That bird follows Miko everywhere."

Hayato nodded in revelation. No wonder that bird looked a bit different than what he remembered. "She has two?"

Takeshi shook his head. "Nah, she has several. They are all different colours. That's how you can recognize between hers and Hibari's future birds I guess. Other than the one on her shoulder, all of the yellow birds are Hibari's"

"Che. How confusing."

...

Tsuna slid open the door to the DC office. "Toku-nee!" The black bird flew off his shoulder and onto a perch at the side of the room.

Tomiko raised her head. "Tsuna. Don't worry about the expulsion. We took care of it." She paused and rested her head on her hand. Her yellow bird was on the other shoulder. "Nezu won't bother you any longer."

Takeshi laughed. "Thanks, Miko-senpai~ You fired him?"

Tomiko did not respond.

Tsuna looked at her, wide eyed. "To-toku-nee. You didn't need to fire him for me."

Tomiko sighed. "He did not fulfill the requirements to be a teacher at Namichu. He would have been fired either way."

Hayato stared at her with starry eyes. "Toku-hime is amazing."

Tomiko sweat dropped at the name.

"Haha, of course Miko-senpai is amazing." Tsuna instantly agreed with Takeshi.

Kyoya's appearance save her from spluttering. "Tomiko" He slid the door open "the stupid old herbivorous herbivore will be retrained starting tomorrow."

"Eh? This early? Weren't we going to wait till summer?"

"I will not have a stupid old herbivorous herbivore running this school." Tsuna instantly pitied the principal.

Tomiko sighed and nodded. "Alright… I'll go prepare…" She got up to leave for the Hibari residence. Both Hibaris did not keep any documents in the office other than student and staff files. "See you later Tsuna, Takeshi, Gokudera-san."

They bid their farewells back and split ways outside the DC office.

* * *

"Hibari." Reborn landed in front of Kyoya. He had watched the entire conversation. "Answer me. How much control does Hibari Tomiko have in this school?"

Kyoya gave a bloodthirsty smirk. "Enough."

Reborn lowered his fedora over his eyes. "Does she have enough power to fire the principal?"

Kyoya glared. "Baby. Do not overstep your territory."

Reborn grumbled inwardly and left the room.


	8. DA I -8- Lambo

Lambo had never been a planner. He would just barge into the scene, disregarding everything else. This was why none of the people, save Tsuna, were surprised when Lambo all but crashed through his window yelling "TSUNA-NIIIIIIIII!"

Tsuna looked at the lump that jumped onto him in surprise. Was this a …cow?

"STUPID COW, GET OFF OF JUUDAIME" Hayato ripped Lambo off of Tsuna. Takeshi laughed. Reborn pulled out his gun.

"BUT TSUNA-NII! TSUNA-NII!" it was then Lambo realized that Tsuna did not recognize him. Lambo had expected Tsuna's appearance to be different in advance, but he hasn't been told that Tsuna had no memories, having been born after the announcement.

Lambo stared at his Tsuna-nii like it was the end of the world. Tsuna-nii didn't know him. Was Tsuna-nii so tired of Lambo that he forgot him?

"Go-gokudera-shi…" Lambo turned to Hayato in pure horror. What if Gokudera-shi didn't know him too?

Hayato noticed Lambo's horror. Pitying him, he began to gently rub his hair to calm him down.

Unfortunately, Hayato had forgotten the hammer space of Lambo's hair.

As Hayato rubbed his fingers through the curls, the 10 year bazooka flew out from nowhere. Hayato jerked his hand back in surprise, saving him from being shot. Lambo was not as lucky.

There was a pink puff of smoke as everyone stared.

The smoke cleared revealing the TYL Lambo, in all his cow print glory. Older Lambo took one long glance at the scene and screamed. "GOKUDERA-SHI WILL KILL ME!"

He turned to Hayato. "GOKUDERA-SHI. THE 10 YEAR BAZOOKA. TAKE IT FAR, FAR AWAY FROM ME. MAKE SURE I NEVER USE IT. OH MY GOD! I AM GOING TO DIE WHEN I GET BACK"

Hayato looked at Lambo in surprise, slightly guilty. He dumbly nodded.

Takeshi laughed. "Maa maa Lambo, calm down. Were you in a meeting or something?"

Lambo froze then began to cry. "I was in a meeting with someone very important… GOKUDERA-SHIII I'M SORRY!"

They could not get any more information from the crying Lambo, who cried non-stop for the rest of the 5 minutes.

There was a second puff of smoke, and a solemn looking younger Lambo appeared. He looked like he had just gone through hell and come back. Everyone, even Reborn, gave Lambo his distance the rest of the day.

Poor confused Tsuna was forced to tell his mom that Lambo was going to live with them. He didn't even get an explanation on the 10 year bazooka.

* * *

For whatever reason, Lambo decided to be a hyperactive idiotic child around Tsuna, just like he was in the past. He even got into the habit of calling him "Dame-Tsuna" again.

Needless to say, Reborn was quickly annoyed at Lambo.

An annoyed Reborn meant an abusive Reborn. Lambo quickly found himself strapped into a Leon-cannon. Ignoring Lambo and Tsuna's protests, Reborn fired, releasing all of his momentary stress.

...

And those were the circumstances in which Irie Shoichi found Lambo lying on his living room floor, surrounded by the broken glass of the sliding balcony door. Shoichi instantly went to Lambo. "Lambo! Are you alright?"

Lambo was very dizzy. "Sho-nii…?"

Shoichi frantically nodded. "Yeah. Are you alright?"

Lambo slowly nodded. Then suddenly, he shot up. "Sho-nii!"

Shoichi pulled back in surprise "Yes?"

"The older Gokudera-shi told me to give this to you." Lambo pulled the 10 year bazooka out of his hair.

Shoichi took the bazooka carefully. "Ah… Thank you, Lambo." He lifted Lambo off the ground and carried both the bazooka and kid into his room. He set the bazooka down on his bed gingerly, as if it was going to explode any moment.

"Sho-nii" Lambo called. "Where is everyone else?" Lambo remembered that Shoichi did not live alone.

"My mom and sister are at my sister's high school. You came earlier than last time." Shoichi was writing a bill for the damages to the living room. He had been expecting it in advance. "Aren't the Bovinos late? Last time, they sent a crate of stuff not long after you crashed in."

Lambo gave a sheepish expression. "Last time my boss told me to come assassinate Reborn. This time I kind of ran away from home…"

"Ah…" Shoichi sweat dropped. "Well that's fine. I don't need to carry the heavy crate around this time then."

"Sorry, Shoichi-nii… you'll need to pay for the damage…"

"Don't worry, Lambo. Someone agreed to pay for me already." He showed Lambo the bill he was filling out. "I was expecting this after all." He pocketed the bill to send off later.

"Oh right," Shoichi rummaged through his desk and pulled out a green ring. "I made this lightning ring for you. It's around C-grade, I couldn't find better materials. Better than nothing, though."

Lambo took the ring. "Thanks Sho-nii, but I don't really need a ring. I use my horns more than rings."

Shoichi shrugged. "I gave one to most of the other guardians as well. They don't need it either… think of it as backup. Who knows, you might use it one day. Come, Lambo, I'll bring you back home."

...

They stopped in front of the Sawada Residence. Shoichi rang the doorbell. Tsuna came out seconds later.

"Sol-nii" Tsuna called in surprise.

"Tsuna, long time no see." Shoichi handed Lambo to Tsuna.

Tsuna looked at Lambo then at Shoichi.

"Ah, Lambo is like my little brother."

Tsuna stared at Lambo, wide eyed. "Lambo is part of the family?"

Shoichi nodded.

"Is Lambo strong?"

Shoichi patted Lambo's head. "Yes. Lambo is very strong. He is the Hibari-san type of strong."

"Irie Shoichi." Reborn appeared from nowhere.

"REBORN!" Tsuna shouted. "Don't use Lambo as a cannonball." He complained.

Reborn ignored him. "Irie Shoichi, you know Tsuna?"

Shoichi nodded. "I work with Hibari-san and Tomiko-chan."

"Sol-nii is the student council president! People call him "King"." Tsuna excitedly informed Reborn.

Reborn looked at Shoichi, highly amused. "King?"

Shoichi turned as red as his hair.

"Sho-nii is King?" Lambo peered at Shoichi carefully, holding in his laughter.

"I… I…" Shoichi flailed. "I need to go." He ran off.

"Irie is Kaichou? Then how come he is never at school?" Reborn asked Tsuna.

"Sol-nii has special privileges. As long as he aces all his tests, he does not need to attend class. Hibari-niisan and Toku-nee are the same. Sol-nii appears in public much more often than Toku-nee though. He does the opening ceremonies and other events. He also wanders around the school to check up on students sometimes. The rest of the time, he stays in his office, lab or at home."

Reborn nodded. It seems like Shoichi never changes. "Hibari Tomiko does not appear in public?"

Tsuna nodded. "Toku-nee is usually in her office doing paperwork. She helps Sol-nii do his paperwork as well."

If it weren't for the Skylark, Reborn would have long recruited Hibari Tomiko into the Vongola to at least do paperwork.


	9. DA I -11- Haru

Author's Note:

Thank you again for reading 'Memoria'  
'9' and '10' introduces Bianchi and Shamal  
please keep in mind that Bianchi is living at the Sawada Residence and that Shamal is in Namimori  
similarly to '4', there are reasons in which those chapters cannot be released yet  
i will continue to skip over chapters when necessary, so i might not post another warning next time about it unless it introduces a character or something important

-1458

* * *

"HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING TO A PURE INNOCENT BABY"

How did this happen again?

Tsuna had been walking to school one beautiful morning with Reborn. Hayato and Takeshi both had personal reasons why they couldn't join him (Dynamite stocking and baseball practice). Tsuna had been enjoying his (rare) quiet morning when suddenly this strange girl appeared and asked for a hug from Reborn.

Reborn, seeing the golden opportunity, said he was a hitman.

Tsuna gave a face palm. He would have started yelling, but the girl beat him to it.

"HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING TO A PURE INNOCENT BABY"

Now Tsuna tried, he really did, to defend his case. But against Miura Haru, there was no way anyone could get a proper trial. Tsuna was quickly sentenced to a hard slap in the face. He would have gotten another one, but was saved by the king.

"Tsuna? What are you doing?" Shoichi walked towards Tsuna, blinking at the scene.

"SOL-NII!" Tsuna quickly escaped the girl and ran towards Shoichi, hiding behind him. "T-that girl is scary…"

Shoichi refocused on Haru, completely understanding where Tsuna was coming from. He himself had been very terrified of Haru in the past and by the looks of it, probably in the present as well.

Haru's face of rage contorted into a face of recognition. Her eyes began to sparkle and she suddenly grabbed Shoichi's hand. Shoichi flinched, not that Haru noticed.

"Hahi! It's the king!" She shook his hand rapidly. "Haru always wanted to meet the king! Haru has heard many wonderful stories about the king, like the time you-"

"I-I'm sorry Haru-san, I-I have something to attend." Shoichi freed his hands while in a deep blush. Even after being crowned 'king' for many years, he was still highly embarrassed about it.

"Tsuna, I am going to show Lambo my lab. He will stay with me for the rest of the day." Shoichi stammered, then dashed off after giving a brief bow to Haru.

As for Tsuna, the moment Shoichi left, he sped off to the school, wanting to escape from this scary girl.

There was no way Reborn was going to back down from involving Haru.

While Tsuna ran off to school, Reborn returned to the Sawada Residence to ask Bianchi to explain all about the mafia and Tsuna's role to Haru. Bianchi did so, though with some hesitation.

...

Which led to the subsequent predictable situation.

"I CHALLENGE YOU, MAFIA BOSS" A samurai shouted at Tsuna. Haru even went the extra mile to prepare the battlefield, having planted flags and banners around the bridge. The only thing she was missing was the proper weapon.

"W-WHA?!" Tsuna instantly attempted to run the other direction.

Reborn kicked him down, flat onto the floor. "Dame-Tsuna, mafia bosses don't run from challenges."

Tsuna gawked at him. "Are you kidding? Isn't she a normal person?" He paused. "I meant, isn't she a civilian?"

"Dame-Tsuna, don't worry about details."

"…The details are kind of important…" Tsuna found himself kicked in the head again. Tsuna opened his mouth to protest again but was saved by Hayato.

"JUUDAIMEEEEE" The owner of the voice appeared out of nowhere. He ran in front of Tsuna, arms spread. "I WILL SAVE YOU FROM THIS CRAZY WOMAN" Some dynamite materialized in his hands.

"W-wait! Gokudera-san, she is a nor- civilian! Don't hurt her…" and don't destroy the bridge.

"HAI, JUUDAIME" Hayato instantly hid his dynamites.

Takeshi appeared from behind Tsuna, laughing. "Yo, Tsuna. Playing with a samurai? Let me join!" He pulled out his bamboo sword. He had all of his equipment with him, having been prepared to go to kendo practice.

"W-wait!-" Tsuna cried, but it was too late. Takeshi gave a quick warm-up slash and charged at the samurai.

To his defense, Takeshi had no idea it was Haru under that outfit, though he should have guessed…

Haru saw the sword headed in her direction and instantly freaked out. It was hard not to; Takeshi was giving the look and aura of a skilled swordsman. It was very intimidating. Haru stepped back in surprise, accidentally losing balance and falling over the bridge due to the outfit's lopsided center of balance. She sank like a rock, hands flailing, trying to keep her afloat.

Tsuna ran over to the side of the bridge in horror. The girl will not survive in that costume and Tsuna did not want to be partially responsible for her death.

Seeing the resolve in Tsuna's eyes, Reborn instantly shot. He was not disappointed.

"REBORN! SAVE HARU WITH MY DYING WILL!"

…

"Sorry, Haru-san. I was too worked up." Takeshi gave Haru an apologetic bow.

"No… it's alright…" Haru slowly stood up, dazed. "it's really alright… because I learned how wonderful TSUNA-SAN IS!" Haru ran up to the near naked Tsuna, who was wearing kendo sandals Takeshi produced from his bag (he was planning to wear the rest of the outfit after he dried himself), and grabbed his hands. Hayato barked but Haru ignored him. "TSUNA-SAN! HARU WILL BE YOUR BRIDE!"

Tsuna blinked. "Eh?"

"HARU IS IN LOVE WITH TSUNA-SAN! HARU WILL WORK HARD TO BE TSUNA-SAN'S BRIDE! AH- WAIT, TSUNA-SAAAAN" Tsuna had run off part way through Haru's declaration in fear. Haru instantly dashed after him. Hayato quickly began to chase the 'crazy woman' with the intent of getting her away from Juudaime. Takeshi laughed and picked up his discarded kendo bag.

Reborn jumped onto Takeshi's shoulder. "Do you know where Dame-Tsuna is going?"

"Haha, of course. There's only one place he would go when something scary is chasing him, especially at this time of month."

* * *

"Would you like some more cake or tea, Hana?" Kyoko asked, gently spinning the cake rack to choose a slice for herself.

Hana meekly nodded her head. When Kyoko had invited her out to eat cake the day before, Hana had no idea that she would be eating cake here. In fact, this was the last place she expected to go for cake. Who would go to the Hibari Residence to eat cake?! Well, apparently Kyoko and now, Hana. She peered at Tomiko awkwardly, who was currently eating a slice of cake while looking over a report that Kyoko just handed to her. The yellow bird that was usually perched on her shoulder was on the table eating cake. There was a plain black canary also on the table, drinking tea.

"You should try this one! Every cake that Toku-chan makes is delicious, but this one is not as sweet as some of the others. You don't like cakes that are super sweet right? So you will definitely like this one!" Kyoko handed Hana a slice of cake.

"…Kyoko… you can recognize the cakes by their appearance?" Hana looked between the one on her plate and two other similar, but different, looking ones on the tray. There were really an insane variety of cake on the tray. Hana briefly wondered where the rest of the cakes were. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if Hibari Kyoya was a closet sweet-tooth.

Kyoko smiled. "Of course~ I've been eating Toku-chan's cakes forever." She stuck some cake into her mouth. "Her cakes are the best~" Kyoko and Tomiko had been having their tea parties ever 3rd Saturday of the month at the Hibari Residence together ever since they met. They only briefly stopped between last year and the year before, as both Tomiko and Kyoko were very busy during the transition period between Elementary and Middle school.

Tomiko stacked the report together. "Kyoko, you are much better than before. Good work. I've marked some slight changes on the report, but they are very minor. May I trouble you to make the changes then give the report to Shoichi?"

Kyoko beamed at Tomiko. "Thank you, Toku-chan. I'll give it to kaichou later." She took the report from Tomiko and read through the changes, nodding to herself and making a mental note of how to improve in the future.

"You have to write reports already? Your position as vice-president of Namichu student council hasn't even been publicly announced yet." With the probing from Tomiko and Shoichi, Kyoko managed to become the VP for Shoichi again even though she was not qualified in terms of age. She carried the same title in Namisho, until Shoichi graduated, in which she took over as president in her final year.

"These are some of Kaichou's other documents, actually." Kyoko giggled. "Kaichou installed a CCTV system around Namichu. With this final statement, he is all cleared~." she shook her head in exasperation. "Kaichou really likes to overwork himself." Tomiko nodded in agreement.

Hana wondered if she should be worried about how lightly Kyoko is treating the prospect of a CCTV system in a regular middle school, but she decided it was probably safer if she did not press for details. Hana had a feeling that she already knew too much. She sighed and focused on Tomiko, who was reaching for another slice of cake for her yellow canary. The yellow canary was still eating cake, and he had evidently finished quite a few slices already. Weren't cake bad for canaries?

"Hana-san?"

Hana looked up in surprise. "Please call me Hana, Toku-san."

Tomiko gave Hana a slight smile. "Please drop the 'san' from my name as well."

Hana shook her head before realizing something. "Um, Toku-san. Why aren't you wearing your mask?"

"I can't exactly eat cake while wearing a mask… please keep my appearance a secret though, I have a complex about people seeing my face."

Even though Hana was not sure how she could verbally expose Tomiko's face in the first place, she nodded anyways. She did make a tiny mental note about how different her face was compared to Hibari Kyoya though.

...

"Tomiko." Kyoya slid the door open. He did not give so much as a second glance to either the occupants in the room or the sweets on the table. There was no way Kyoya would not know about something that was occurring in his own house after all.

"Kyoya. Do you need something?" Tomiko stood up and put her mask back onto her face. The gluttonous yellow canary flew onto her shoulder, leaving his cake behind. It was obvious he would come back for it later. The other black canary remained on the table, slowly eating his first and only slice of cake.

Kyoya nodded. Tomiko walked towards him when the other door suddenly slid open.

"TOKU-NEEEEE" Tsuna dashed to Tomiko after briefly checking the room for her location. Haru, Hayato, Takeshi and Reborn appeared seconds after in succession.

"Herbivore. I'll bite you to death for crowding."

"Kyoya, wait." Tomiko rested her hand on his arm to stall him. "Tsuna, what's wrong? Why are you dressed like that? You'll catch a cold."

"A-ah. Um…" Tsuna pulled away from Tomiko. "I went swimming…" Tsuna trailed off, looking away. Spotting Haru, he instantly dashed behind Tomiko, not caring that he was literally a step closer to being bitten to death.

"Tsuna?" Tomiko looked at the new arrivals then back at Tsuna.

"S-scary g-girl" Tsuna stuttered out, lightly gripping the back of Tomiko's orange yukata.

"THE CRAZY WOMAN WAS HARASSING JUUDAIME." Hayato shouted, tugging Haru's arm to prevent her from getting anywhere closer to Tsuna. Takeshi laughed.

"HARU IS NOT A CRAZY WOMAN." Haru turned to Tomiko and glared at her, having obviously misunderstood something. "HARU WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU. HARU WILL BE TSUNA'S BRIDE!" She sharply pointed at Tomiko.

There was a moment of silence.

Tomiko chuckled softly, raising her hand above her mask as if to hide her expression even more. She turned to Tsuna slightly and patted his head with her other hand. "Tsuna's all grown up now. Toku-nee is proud." Even the yellow canary nodded at Tsuna like a proud grandparent.

Tsuna gave a magnificent blush and attempted to deny the claims but Kyoya didn't give him the chance to. "For crowding, I will bite you to death."

Tsuna instantly dashed towards the window on the other side of the room and leapt out of it. Kyoya was right as his tail as he also jumped out of the window. Hayato also ran towards and out the window as well, shouting profanities along the way. Takeshi laughed some more, walking to the window and looking down at the trio chasing each other. He could see them all clearly from the view on the second floor.

Takeshi turned back into the room. "Maa maa, Haru-san. Miko-senpai is Tsuna's sister… and the 'angel'." He then also leapt out the window with Reborn still on his shoulder, laughing the entire way.

"Hahi! Angel?" Haru stared at Tomiko wide eyed. "Haru is so sorry!" She bowed multiple times in apology.

"Ah, no. Please don't worry about it." Tomiko blushed gently. Being hidden from public most of the time, she was barely acquainted with her nickname as the 'angel' and was embarrassed to hear it out loud. However, she would argue that she reacted better than Shoichi when he is called 'king'. She went up to Haru to straighten her. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you."

"Miura Haru, desu! Haru is very sorry for before."

"Haru-chan, would you like some cake? Oh, I am Sasagawa Kyoko and this is Kurokawa Hana." Kyoko smiled at Haru before gently leading her to the table and choosing a slice for her.

"Ah…" the three other girls looked over at Tomiko. "Kyoya never told me what he wanted…" She sighed. The yellow canary went back to his cake.

* * *

"Angel?" Reborn quietly asked Takeshi.

"Ahaha, yeah. You know how Hibari is known as the 'demon of Namimori'? Well, Miko-senpai is known as the 'angel of Namimori' in turn because she was able to suppress Hibari to some extent." Takeshi shrugged. "I wasn't here when the incident occurred so I have no idea what actually happened, I heard from other people that something amazing happened when Miko-senpai first interacted with Hibari publically." He gave a thoughtful expression. "I think it is written in the Namisho archives. If you are curious, you could go check it out."

Reborn sighed. "I would, but Hibari told me to back off."

"Ahaha, of course he would." Takeshi laughed, not granting Reborn any further clarification.


	10. DA I -12- I-pin

"HIIIIIIEEE" Tsuna gave a very high pitched, girly scream one early morning.

Lambo and Bianchi ran into the room at once."What happened?"

Tsuna could only shakily point to the figure lying on his bed.

"Dame-Tsuna, congratulations on your first kill." Reborn appeared from nowhere and landed beside the body.

"R-reborn… f-first k-kill? KILL?!" Tsuna screamed as he hit himself to check if it was not just a bad dream. It wasn't.

"Ah. Did you forget? Last night a burglar came into your room and you killed him." Reborn explained.

"Gyahahaha Dame-Tsuna killed someone" Lambo ran out of the room, laughing.

Bianchi, on the other hand, examined Tsuna's handiwork. "Hmm, it is alright as a first kill, but it could use a lot of work. Don't worry, Tsuna. You'll get better."

"I DON'T WANT TO GET BETTER"

"TSUNA" Ryohei barged into the room. "YOU ARE EXTREMELY LATE." he looked at the body. "Oh! You must have extremely had a lot of fun last night."

"O-onii-san! I did not have fun last night." Tsuna stammered. "I-I don't even remember what happened."

Ryohei punched the air. "That's extremely alright! I don't extremely remember what happened last night either!"

"Sasagawa, Tsuna won't join you for your jog today. He needs to deal with this first." Reborn gestured the body.

Ryohei nodded enthusiastically. "We can extremely jog tomorrow. Have fun, Tsuna!" He ran out of the room. They could hear him shouting "EXTREME" from outside.

"JUUDAIME!" This time it was Hayato's turn to barge into the room. "The stupid cow told me you killed someone! Where is he?" He looked around the room and saw Bianchi. "Ack! Aneki…" Hayato collapsed on the floor. Bianchi put on her goggles then place him in a more comfortable posture against the wall.

"Yo, Tsuna! Senpai said you had a lot of fun last night" Takeshi walked into the room. He looked at the body and laughed. "Ahaha, it seems like he was right."

"T-Takeshi… I did not have a lot of fun last night. I don't even know how this happened…"

"Maa maa, don't worry about it. But, are you going to leave him there all day?"

Tsuna's eyes widened. Takeshi was right. He needed to get rid of the body as soon as possible. He turned to Reborn.

"Don't worry, dame-Tsuna, I called Hibari."

Tsuna widened his eyes even further and freaked out a second later. "NONONONONO, NOT HIBARI-NIISAN. HE WILL DEFINITELY TELL TOKU-NEE."

As if on cue, Kyoya entered through the window Reborn left open. He looked at the body and smirked. "Wao."

"Hibari-niisan! I-it's not what you think." Tsuna flailed.

Kyoya looked at Tsuna with a smirk. "Hn. Herbivore, it looks like you are starting to develop fangs." He turned around and left the room before Tsuna could say anything else.

"Tsuna, what happened? Lambo told me you killed someone." Shoichi entered the room carrying Lambo. He looked at the body and instantly held his stomach.

"S-sol-nii… help me…" Tsuna begged.

"Eh? W-well… I think I might have some defibrillators… ah, wait… I took those apart… Tsuna, I'll go check if I have anything else. But… it's hard to revive someone after they've been dead for a while…" Shoichi muttered as he walked out of the room and headed to his lab to see what he could find. Still deep in thought, he ended up forgetting to put Lambo down.

"Revive? R-Reborn! Can you shoot him with the dying will bullet?"

Tsuna was kicked on the head. "Dame-Tsuna, the dying will bullet can't revive someone who is already dead." He took out his gun. "However, I will shoot someone with the dying will bullet." He pulled the trigger.

"REBORN! REVIVE THE CORPSE WITH MY DYING WILL!" Tsuna instantly jumped onto the body and tore off its shirt. He put both of his palms on the bare chest and leaned above it. Just as he was about to press, Kyoya brought Tomiko into the room through the window.

Tomiko stared at the scene for a full 30 seconds. She held her hand over the mask on top of her mouth. "… My… When Kyoya told me something interesting was happening here, I was most definitely not expecting this…"

"Hn. I told you the herbivore was starting to develop fangs." Kyoya was leaning against the wall, smirking at the scene with high amusement. By now, Tsuna had long lost the flame on his head.

"Ju-juudaime…" Hayato chose this beautiful moment to wake up. He stared at the scene and flushed bright red. "I-I… e-excuse me for disturbing you." He dashed out of the room.

"Tsuna, we will be leaving as well. …Please take your time. Excuse us." The hand remained over the mask as Tomiko and Kyoya exited the room from the window. They heard her muttering "Tsuna is really growing up so quickly."

"Haha… Tsuna, I'll stop disturbing you as well. See ya" Takeshi also turned to leave. "Ah! Kyoko-chan, Kurokawa-san and Haru-san! I don't think you should enter Tsuna's room right now. He's busy." Takeshi ushered the girls out, helping them preserve their 'innocence' for another day.

By now, poor Tsuna was beet red and still straddling the body, near naked.

Shoichi ran into the room holding defibrillators. "Tsuna! I managed to find a pair that still work-" He looked at Tsuna, then at the body. "…I guess you won't need these…" He turned and left.

"GYAHAHA Dame-Tsuna! What are you-" Lambo was carried off by Shoichi before he could enter the room.

Bianchi had collapsed onto the floor due to over-laughing. Reborn was in a better condition. He walked up to Tsuna. "Dame-Tsuna, get of the body." He kicked Tsuna off. "This is Moretti, known as Moretti the Murdered. He is part of the Vongola Famiglia and his special skill, called 'Addio', is to stop his heart at will."

Tsuna stared at Reborn in disbelief. To support Reborn's statement, Moretti rose from his position. "Hello, Vongola Decimo. I was on a mission nearby so Reborn suggested I go meet you-" Moretti stared at the fainted Tsuna. "…Reborn…"

"…Moretti, you can leave. You have a flight to make right?"

Moretti nodded. "I'll take my leave then, bye."

* * *

Lost.

I-pin was lost.

She did know the city like the back of her hand. She had spent most of her last childhood here after all. I-pin went shopping with Maman regularly and worked as a ramen deliverer for a while. However, the city looks extremely different now that she was both tiny and almost blind.

I-pin wanted to cry. "Maman… Lambo… Fuuta-nii… Bianchi-nee… Kyoya-nii… Tsuna-nii…" She sniffled. "Tsuna-nii…"

"I-pin?!"

I-pin looked up with teary eyes. Lambo ran over to her.

"I-pin! Are you hurt?"

"Lambo…" She sniffled once then began to bawl on his shoulder.

"How did you end up on this side of Namimori anyways?" Lambo asked after I-pin calmed down.

I-pin shrugged. "I can't see…" She peered curiously at Lambo. "How did you find me?"

"Sho-nii told me you were around here. He made some sort of flame radar." Lambo explained as he led I-pin to the Sawada Residence. Suddenly he stopped. "I-pin… about dame-Tsuna…"

"Tsuna-san doesn't have memories right? Shishou-sama told me."

Lambo nodded sadly. They continued their way.

…

"I-pin."

I-pin gave Reborn a deep bow.

"Can you attack Dame-Tsuna with your gyoza-ken?"

"Hm?" I-pin looked at Reborn in confusion before nodding slowly. Fon had told her to help Sawada Tsunayoshi grow stronger. "Ok. At school?"

Reborn shrugged. "Wherever you want."

…

"That's Dame-Tsuna." Lambo pointed from a tree on the Namichu school grounds. "The one with the light brown hair."

I-pin looked down through the pair of glasses Lambo had given her (they were specially made by Shoichi for I-pin). "Tsuna-san looks more like…" Sawada Iemitsu.

Lambo sighed in agreement. While both Lambo and I-pin could tolerate Sawada Iemitsu, they preferred to stay away from him if given a choice. "Do you know how to get to the roof?"

I-pin nodded. "See you later, Lambo."

"Don't get lost, I-pin."

* * *

"Ni hao. Are you Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna looked down to see a nearly bald baby with a single braided tail on its head. "Um… Yes? Were you the one who called me to the roof?" in the middle of class, too…

The baby gave him a deep bow. "I am sorry." she took out a gyoza and bit into it.

Tsuna blinked twice before taking a full blow of garlic. "Wha-" Tsuna found himself slammed into the fence on the other side of the roof. Then again on a different side of the roof.

"Dame-Tsuna. This is I-pin."

"REBORN! HELP MEEE" Tsuna screamed as he flew to yet another side of the roof.

"I-pin uses a technique called the gyoza-ken."

"REBORNNN" Tsuna flew over Reborn to the final side of the roof.

"The gyoza-ken uses the smell of garlic to control the brain and body of the target."

"REBORN, EXPLAIN IT LATER. SAVE ME"

Reborn sighed. "I-pin, that's good enough."

I-pin dispelled the attack. Tsuna fell to the ground, dizzy and bruised. I-pin walked up to him.

"Nice to meet you, Tsuna-san. I am I-pin." She gave Tsuna a bow.

"Dame-Tsuna, I-pin is going to live at your house." The gun in Reborn's hand didn't give Tsuna any room for argument.

* * *

"Kawahira-ojisan!" I-pin slid the door of Kawahira's shop open and ran in.

Kawahira looked up, holding his bowl of ramen. "Oh, I-pin. How are you?"

"I am fine. I'm living at Tsuna-san's house again."

"Oh. How is Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

"…Different…" I-pin had spent a few hours spying on this Sawada Tsunayoshi. He was very different. She tilted her head slightly down. "Kawahira-ojisan, why does Tsuna-san not remember?"

"That… is something only she would know."

"She?"

Kawahira took a huge slurp of ramen and I-pin knew that she would not learn anything else from Kawahira. Giving a silent sigh, she bid Kawahira farewell. He nodded back as she left the shop, sliding the door closed behind her.

…

I-pin began to make her way back to the Sawada Residence, deep in thought. Suddenly she slammed hard into someone's leg. "I am sorry!" She bowed repeatedly in apology.

"Hn." It's alright.

I-pin's head shot up at the familiar voice. "Kyoya-nii!"

Kyoya bent down and patted her head. "Hn?" What are you doing in a place like this?

"I was visiting Kawahira-ojisan." I-pin jerked slightly in response to Kyoya's dark aura.

"Annoying mist herbivores…" Kyoya growled before forcing himself to calm down in front of the girl. "How are you?"

"I-pin is well! I am living with Tsuna-san again…" I-pin's mood visibly dipped. "He is very different…"

Kyoya picked her up. "The herbivore will never become the omnivore you are seeking. Treat him like an entirely different person." Kyoya cradled I-pin in his arms as he headed for the Sawada Residence. "It should not be difficult."

I-pin nodded in agreement. True. If Sawada Tsunayoshi looked like the past Sawada Tsunayoshi, it would be nearly impossible to separate them. However, this Tsuna looked like a different person. "It would have been nice… if Tsuna-san had a different name."

"Hn. Names are for herbivores. What matters is strength."

I-pin said nothing, knowing that Kyoya-nii was right, as always, in his own bizarre way. Kyoya took I-pin, in silence, back to the Sawada Residence. Having been very used to Kyoya, silence was the music of peace in I-pin's ears. She smiled, content, and snuggled into his arms. She had a very tiring day.

…

They stopped in front of the Sawada Residence. Kyoya rang the doorbell. Tsuna came out seconds later.

"Hibari-niisan?!" Tsuna gaped in surprise. Kyoya rarely rings the doorbell, opting to barge right in instead.

"Hn." Herbivore, close your mouth.

Tsuna slammed his mouth shut. Then he noticed the lump that Kyoya was carrying. "… That's I-pin right? The little boy that attacked me."

"Girl."

Tsuna blinked but quickly nodded afterwards. "Girl." He paused, looking at I-pin then Kyoya. "Is she your little sister like how Lambo is Sol-nii's little brother."

"Yes." Kyoya put I-pin down onto the Sawada gate wall.

"Xie xie, Kyoya-nii." I-pin gave Kyoya a bow of gratitude.

"Hn" Kyoya patted her on the head with a slight smile before turning to continue his patrol. He gave a slight wave of farewell at her.

Tsuna ran after him. "Hibari-niisan"

Kyoya stopped walking but did not turn around.

"Does Toku-nee have a 'little sibling' as well?" There was a trace of unease in Tsuna's voice.

"…" Kyoya pondered over the question. …Technically, it was a no… "No."

Tsuna gave a sigh of relief before bidding Kyoya farewell and returning home.


	11. DA I -13- Dino

"Namimori" Dino stretched. "It's good to be back."

"You've been here before, boss?"

"Yeah. A long, long time ago…" Dino stepped forward. "Now then, it's time to meet my lil' bro."

* * *

Tsuna stared.

This was his house right? He looked at the neighboring houses, then at his house again. Yes. This was indeed his house. Which meant…

Either, these men in black were here to arrest him or to interrogate him. Both did not sound pleasant. Tsuna did not remember getting onto the bad side of someone significant. Unless… these people were after Toku-nee, Hibari-niisan or Sol-nii. Tsuna has never been attacked due to those three before though. Tomiko had taken extra precautions to hide Tsuna, something Tsuna had witnessed before. Toku-nee calls Hibari-niisan's tactics 'excessive', however Tsuna would argue that Toku-nee acted like an amplified Hibari-niisan at times. So anyways, that ruled out Toku-nee, Hibari-niisan and Sol-nii as suspects behind the men in black. (Unknown to Tsuna, Hibari was the reason. Partially. Sort of.)

That was when Tsuna remembered about the fact that Reborn was kind of an assassin and that Reborn was also the person responsible for practically 80% of the weird things that happened to him recently. (The remaining 20% was also Reborn, but Tsuna did not want/need to know that.)

Tsuna gave a magnificent face palm. "Please don't tell me its Reborn…"

At the familiar name, one of the men in black walked up to him. "Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna looked up in fear. "Um… Yes?"

All of the men in black bowed before him at once. "Please come in." They cleared a path for him.

Ok… that was a first. So these men in black weren't about to hurt him or something, probably… Tsuna walked into his house slowly. "… I'm home?"

"Oh, Tsu-kun. Welcome home~ Reborn brought some of his friends over, but they couldn't all fit inside so some of them decided to wait outside. They are in your room!" Nana walked back into the kitchen. Tsuna could hear her chatting with Bianchi. Sighing, he walked up to his room.

"Reborn…" Tsuna opened his door. "Who are-" He paused at the sight of two men in black and a blond person in his chair.

The blond person spun around and 2 seconds later, Tsuna found himself glomped. "Lil' bro~"

Tsuna looked at Reborn in confusion and daze. Reborn sighed. "Dame-Dino."

Dino blinked before pulling back slightly, his arms still on Tsuna's shoulders. "I am Dino. Chiavarone Dino. Call me Dino, lil' bro. I was a former student of Reborn… Twice… But anyways, think of me like your big bro!" Then he resumed hugging Tsuna.

"Dino is the boss of the Chiavarone Famiglia, the 3rd most powerful famiglia. He saved his famiglia from a financial crisis after he took over… Dame-Dino, get off Dame-Tsuna." Reborn gave a powerful kick to the back of Dino's head. Dino fell forward, capturing Tsuna in a lip-lock as they crashed onto the ground.

Tsuna blinked. Dino blinked. Dino shot off Tsuna, madly blushing, hand over his mouth. Tsuna calmly rose from the ground, wiping his mouth once.

Reborn lowered his fedora, but Dino knew well that he was cackling manically inside. "Dame-Dino. Tsuna's still a minor."

Dino spluttered and dashed out of the room. His men followed behind, attempting to hold in their laughter. Reborn landed in front of Tsuna, curious about his lack of reaction. "Dame-Tsuna, that wasn't your first kiss was it."

Tsuna shook his head. "No… besides, that was an accident. That you caused." Tsuna gave Reborn the best glare he could give, which wasn't very good. Reborn noted that he would have to work on Tsuna's glaring skills.

"Who was your first kiss?" Reborn was very curious.

Tsuna blinked before blushing. "Ah, no…" There was the sound of the safety being flipped. "Wait, don't shoot. I'll tell you… Don't tell anybody ok? Especially not Hibari-niisan. Don't mention a word about it to Hibari-niisan. Promise me…"

Reborn relented to the condition.

* * *

An hour later, Dino made it back to the Sawada Residence.

"Dino-san. Don't worry about what happened earlier. It was an accident after all." Tsuna held out his hand. "Let's start over. I am Sawada Tsunayoshi. Call me Tsuna. Nice to meet you."

Dino eagerly took the hand and shook it. "I'm Dino." Dino pulled the turtle out. "This is Enzo. Reborn gave him to me." Enzo yawned. Dino pulled out his whip. "I use a bull whip. Reborn also gave this to me." Dino pointed at Romario. "This is Romario. Reborn-"

Reborn kicked Dino down.

"…Boss… calm down." Romario helped Dino back up.

"B-but…" Dino turned to Tsuna, "I'M SORRY LIL BRO!" He sobbed. "I TOOK YOUR INNOCENCE."

"Dame-Dino. Tsuna lost his innocence a long time ago." Dino looked straight at Reborn for clarification.

"REBORN" Tsuna yelped. "You promised." He ran over to cover Reborn's mouth in vain. As if Reborn's mouth was that easy to cover.

Reborn grumbled. "Dame-Tsuna. I'll keep the promise. As long as I don't say who" Reborn smirked. "then it's fine."

"Not even a word about the details. I don't even know how you got me to tell you the details…" Tsuna moaned.

Reborn huffed. "Fine." He turned to Dino, who was attempting to beg the information out of Reborn with puppy-dog eyes. As if puppy-dog eyes worked on Reborn. "Dame-Dino. Stay for the night. You can give Dame-Tsuna advice on being a mafia boss."

"Alright. Romario, tell the guys to stay at the hotel. I'll be fine."

Romario eyed his boss with doubt but obeyed anyways. He wondered about the distance of the hotel from the Sawada Residence on his way out. The hotel might be just outside Dino's range…

...

It was.

Tsuna watched as Dino tumbled down the stairs. "And I thought I was clumsy…" He mumbled. Reborn leapt onto his shoulder.

"Dame-Tsuna was clumsy?" Tsuna's current agility and coordination was actually very good.

"Yeah. I was avoided when I was younger because of how clumsy I was… but Hibari-niisan got rid of most of my clumsiness." Tsuna grimaced in memory of the terrible training Kyoya put him through. Evidently, he hasn't experienced enough Reborn yet.

"Dame-Dino's ability stats decrease by half once his men are out of range." unfortunately for Dino, the hotel was out of range.

"… How does that even work? Does he have a GPS or something?"

"No. Not for Dame-Dino at least. His is more of a subconscious feeling. Only Vongolas get the 'GPS'."

"Vongolas?"

"They call it the 'Hyper Intuition'. Only people of the Vongola bloodline get it. But even then… it's rarely used that way." in fact, he was the only one who was able to utilize his HI as a 'GPS' system. "You are part of the Vongola bloodline. Your Hyper Intuition is just lying dormant right now. Well, not for long." Reborn smirked.

Tsuna figured that it was a good idea to leave the conversation before the sadistic baby gets more ideas.

…

"DINO-SAN" I-pin ran into the dining room. "TURTLE, HUGE"

Dino jumped out of his seat and promptly fell down.

"DINOOOO" Lambo screamed from a different room. "GODZILLA"

"I KNOW, I'M COMING" Dino screamed back, before tripping on his feet once more.

Tsuna looked at him in confusion. "Godzilla?"

Reborn tipped his fedora. "Enzo. When the turtle meets water, it expands."

Tsuna gaped. He turned to I-pin. "Where… is the turtle?"

"… Bath tub."

Tsuna ran to the bathroom, dragging Dino with him.

…

They were saved by Shoichi's modifications. Tsuna slammed a button hidden under a bathroom tile. Instantly, a huge rush of dry air filled the room. Enzo shrunk.

Tsuna sighed as he accessed the damage. "Thank god Bianchi took kaa-san to the spa…"

Reborn peered at the panel of buttons under the unveiled tile. "Irie modified your bathroom?"

"Eh? Oh. Sol-nii modified my entire house. He tests his inventions and other stuff here all the time. Well, he stopped a few years ago." Tsuna shrugged. "I'll need to ask Sol-nii to fix the bath tub…" He eyed the huge chew mark on the tub.

"Leave it to Lambo-sama! Lambo-sama has to give Sho-nii something tomorrow."

"Thanks Lambo."

* * *

"JUUDAIME GOOD MORNING"

"Yo, Tsuna"

"Good morning, Takeshi, Gokudera-san." Tsuna stretched. "Oh, yesterday, this person named Dino-san came. Is Dino-san part of the family?"

"Well…" Takeshi started slowly, uncertain which direction to head. Hayato chose for him.

"The horse is part of the alliance. Not family."

"Maa maa… he thought of Dino as family…"

"That's because he was benevolent, altruistic, compassionate-"

Takeshi laughed then proceeded to ignore Hayato's long worship. He heard it countless of times already. "Tsuna, you can decide who you consider family. You don't have to listen to our definitions."

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something but was suddenly lassoed and thrown into a car. Takeshi and Hayato just stared.

"… getting kidnapped after meeting the horse…"

"It's that 'Momokyokai Gumi' right?"

"Yeah." Hayato nodded. "Takeshi, do you have your sword?"

"Of course." The two of them dashed off.

…

"DINO-SAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Err…" following the original timeline under the orders of Reborn?

"Dame-Tsuna, Dame-Dino was just testing your famiglia. Don't worry. Those two are headed off to annihilate the local yakuza group called the 'Momokyokai'."

Tsuna's eyes could not go any wider. "HIEEE WHERE IS THE GROUP." Tsuna freaked out. He pulled out his cell phone and started running. "Sol-nii, where's this 'Momokyokai Gumi'? I need to go there right now."

"Reborn, why did those two go after the Momokyokai?" Dino asked, watching Tsuna's back in the far distance.

"Well, you never did tell them that you were responsible for the 'kidnapping'."

"...Right..." Dino sighed.

…

"Sol-nii…" Tsuna stared.

"What's wrong, Tsuna? Did you find it?" Shoichi asked over the phone.

"Uh… yes and no. I found it… but, um well… it doesn't exist any more…"

"… Ah…"

"I'll call Toku-nee…"

"…Yeah. Oh right. Tsuna, I'll go fix your tub tomorrow."

"Eh? Lambo told you already?"

"Yeah. He tried to sneak in early so I won't find out he accidentally got my experimental camera stuck in his hair. Don't tell him I found out anyways." There was no way Shoichi would have gotten mad at Lambo either way. Lambo did leave Shoichi a 'prize' after all.

"Alright. Um… I'll be late to school today."

"I told the teachers already." Shoichi figured this would happen the moment Tsuna explained the situation.

"Thanks Sol-nii. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Of course, no trip to Namimori was complete without visiting his beloved student.

Dino waltzed into Namichu on a beautiful Wednesday morning (an hour after school started) with Romario following behind him. Romario, having no memories of the past, had no idea what to expect when his boss announced to him he was going to see his student. He didn't even know that his boss had a student. Romario took it in stride, surely his boss wouldn't stay too long, miss the his flight tomorrow and consequently his meeting back in Italy.

If Romario did have his memories, he would be seriously wondering if his boss was a masochist or something.

In any case, whatever Romario was expecting about before he saw Dino's 'student' was surely not what he got.

He was with Kusakabe Tetsuya before seeing Dino. Kyoya wanted to change the patrol patterns, having known that some pineapple herbivore was due to arrive any moment. He was not expecting the horse herbivore, and he was most definitely not happy to see the horse herbivore on his grounds. Especially when he was so dangerously near her.

Hibari Kyoya entered bite-on-sight mode.

Dino should have known. He had been on and off of Kyoya's bite-on-sight list for years, more commonly on than off. In any case, Dino easily found himself in the forest near Namichu, battling an annoyed skylark. Romario and Kusakabe followed behind, both unsure of what to make of this situation. In the end, they both loyally waited for the two to finish. It did not look like anyone was going to die soon after all.

Romario and Kusakabe should compete with Levi for the "most loyal and patient to their boss" award.

The two of them dueled for half a day, exchanging blows non stop. Suddenly, Namichu's anthem sounded in the air. Kyoya stopped, pulled out his phone and answered it.

Dino stared at the scene in disbelief. He looked over at the still standing Kusakabe. The phone call was evidently not from him. He turned back to Kyoya. Kyoya listened to the speaker and after giving a "No.", hung up shortly after.

Dino gaped. Hibari Kyoya actually said something to someone over the phone!? And it was an actual word instead of a grunt or a hn!?

Kusakabe did not look surprised at all. "Dinner?" He asked Kyoya. Kyoya gave a grunt of affirmative.

Dino gaped harder, his jaw threatening to fall off. Hibari Kyoya answered a phone call that was inquiring whether or not he wanted dinner!? No, no way. Dino decided that he misunderstood the entire situation. Thankfully, his mind quickly became preoccupied by defending from Kyoya's attacks and forgot the incident shortly after.

...

They continued to battle. The sun set and rose again. Romario and Kusakabe stayed awake the whole time, watching their bosses. They really deserve a reward. Poor Romario kept looking as his watch, fully aware that his boss had missed his flight. He and Kusakabe had tried stopping them, but other than the brief break due to the phone call, the two did not stop or listen and continued to fight.

They were saved by the bell. Or phone. The Namichu anthem rang again. Kyoya once again stopped, picked up his phone and answered it.

"…" The other end of the phone was too soft for Dino to hear.

"Time" Kyoya inquired. At the response, he blinked and then turned to Kusakabe. "Hn?"

"Oh. Um. Yes, please." Kusakabe said, understanding the grunt.

"Yes." Kyoya told the other end. After another brief moment, Kyoya gave another grunt and hung up. He turned and walked away, towards the Hibari residence.

Dino turned to Kusakabe for an explanation.

"Inchou is going to eat breakfast. Good day, Romario-san, Dino-san." Kusakabe gave a wave and walked after Kyoya.

Dino's jaw was once again wide open.

Romario walked up to his boss.

Dino slowly turned to him.

"Kyoya…"

Romario patiently waited.

"Kyoya… actually stopped fighting to… eat breakfast…?"

"Yes, that's what it seems like. Boss?"

Dino looked like he was about to faint.

"Breakfast… fighting… Kyoya…"

"Oi, boss." Romario waved his hand in front of Dino.

"I…" Dino suddenly looked reenergized. "I must meet that person."

Romario was really lucky that he knew his boss well enough. Instantly, both of his hands were on Dino.

"Boss. You have a meeting in Italy in a few hours."

Romario proceeded to drag Dino to the airport, ignoring his protests.

* * *

**Glassed Loner: **Thank you for the review. I reread the story once and was surprised that you got such a feeling. The only thing I can say for now though, is that Tsuna had a long childhood filled with crazy tutors which definitely had a huge impact on Tsuna's personality.


	12. DA I -14- Fuuta

"Tsuna-nii…" Fuuta stared at the Sawada Residence, longingly. He wandered into Namimori an hour ago, both wanting and not to see Sawada Tsunayoshi. Of course he would want to see his beloved Tsuna-nii, but by seeing him, his worst fears would have been confirmed; that Sawada Tsunayoshi truly has no memories.

"EXTREME" Ryohei jogged up to Fuuta. "Fuuta, its extremely good to see you!"

"Ryohei-nii" Fuuta greeted. "Good to see you too."

Ryohei looked at the Sawada Residence then back at Fuuta. "Oh, are you extremely living with Tsuna already?"

"No… I've just arrived in Namimori. Tsuna-nii is at school right?"

Ryohei nodded. "You should extremely come too! Lambo and I-pin are also at school right now."

"Eh?" Fuuta was confused. "How?"

"Hibari and Irie are extremely watching over them. Come Fuuta!" Ryohei quickly dragged Fuuta to Namichu.

…

"Irie should be extremely here." Ryohei barged into a room shamelessly. Luckily for Fuuta, it was the right room.

"… Sasagawa-kun?" Shoichi looked up from his current invention. It appeared to be some sort of meter.

"Ryo-nii." Lambo greeted with a wave from the table. He put on some ear plugs.

"EXTREME" Ryohei shouted. "Fuuta is here!" He dragged Fuuta forward into view.

"Fuuta-nii!" Lambo tore off the ear plugs and ran over to Fuuta with a hug. Fuuta returned it.

"Sasagawa-kun… you should go to class…" Shoichi sighed, ears ringing. Luckily for him, Ryohei headed off.

"Don't you have class as well?" Fuuta asked.

Lambo answered for Shoichi. "Sho-nii doesn't need to go to class."

"Oh." Fuuta looked around the room, noting how it looked a bit like Shoichi's lab in the past. "Shoichi-nii… is this your lab?"

Shoichi nodded. "Well… this is my lab at school at least. I have another one."

"The other lab is huge." Lambo began. "It looks just like Sho-nii's old one. I think it might even be bigger."

"It just looks big because you are smaller…" Shoichi flipped over the meter he was working on. "Lambo."

Lambo jumped back onto the table from Fuuta's arms. "Ready."

Shoichi nodded then pressed a button. Lambo began to release lightning flames in response. Fuuta walked over to where Shoichi was and peered at the meter. It was for fiamma volts.

"Hmm… it seems like I need to change some things…" Shoichi mumbled. "You can stop for now, Lambo. Thanks."

"No problem." Lambo ceased releasing flames.

"Nee, Lambo, where's I-pin? Ryohei-nii said she was here." Fuuta glanced around the room once more to check.

"I-pin is with Hibari-nii. They should be disciplinary office I think." Lambo looked at Shoichi for confirmation.

Shoichi turned to the flame radar on his laptop. "Yeah. Hibari-san is in the office. Fuuta, would you like to go visit them?"

"Yeah. I know where it is. I'll see you later, Shoichi-nii, Lambo."

"Take this." Shoichi handed Fuuta an arm badge that said 'Kaichou Guest'. "Don't forget to knock on the door before you enter."

Fuuta nodded, pinning the badge onto his arm. "Ok, thanks."

* * *

Fuuta was in front of the DC office, about to knock, when he was intercepted by Kusakabe.

"Excuse me, who are you and what business do you have here?"

Fuuta turned in surprise. "Kusakabe-san" He instantly slammed his hand over his mouth but it was too late. Kusakabe looked suspiciously at Fuuta, particularly at the huge book he was holding.

"Speak."

"Ah… um…" How was he supposed to explain?!

"…Hn?" Hibari Kyoya slid the door open and looked between the child and Kusakabe.

"Inchou! Sorry, did I bother you?"

Kyoya said nothing, reaching out to Fuuta's arm and tugging the arm badge. Kusakabe followed Kyoya's gaze. "… 'Kaichou Guest'?"

"Hn." Kyoya smirked. He pulled out a marker and signed 'Inchou' on a blank spot on the arm badge.

"… Kyoya-nii, I don't think people would be able to read that." The arm badge was getting quite crowded.

"The herbivore would be able to once they come closer." Kyoya examined his handiwork in satisfaction. He capped the marker then patted Fuuta on the head. "Hn?" When did you arrive?

"I arrived a few hours ago. I met Ryohei-nii, Shoichi-nii and Lambo before I came."

"Hn. I-pin is inside." Kyoya moved aside for Fuuta to enter before sliding the door shut. Kusakabe remained frozen in confusion outside the DC office.

…

"Fuuta-nii!" I-pin put down the document and ran over to Fuuta in a hug. Fuuta returned it.

"What are you doing, I-pin?" Fuuta looked around the DC office. He noted how there were three desks.

"I-pin was helping Kyoya-nii organize some documents." She gestured the table in front of the sofa.

Fuuta walked up to it. "Wow… that's a lot of documents." They were student files. Fuuta peered curiously at Kyoya. "Kyoya-nii, why are there three desks in here?" Fuuta always thought Kyoya worked alone and only alone.

Kyoya gestured the one on the other side of the room. "That is Irie's." He then turned to the desk that had a red, a pink and a green Hibird on it. "This is … my vice-director's."

Fuuta blinked. "Kusakabe-san's?"

"Tetsu works elsewhere. I have another VD."

Fuuta nodded, knowing not to press any further. "Should I help with the paperwork as well?"

Kyoya flipped open his phone and read something before shaking his head. "Head to the roof. There is someone who wants to see you."

* * *

Fuuta opened the door of the roof, not knowing who to expect at this time. He closed the door behind him and walked forward.

"Fuuta…"

Fuuta instantly turned towards the voice. "Chrome-nee!" He ran towards her. "You're in Namimori?"

"Yes… I am hiding from Reborn-san and the others. Don't tell them I'm here, alright?"

Fuuta nodded. He looked over her curiously. Chrome had longer purple not-pineapple hair. Plus she had both eyes and was wearing the Namichu uniform. "You transferred here?"

Chrome nodded. "Hai. I transferred here many years ago. Mukuro-sama took me away from Japan right after I was born then I came a few years after that." She subconsciously graced her fingers over her left eye. Then she noticed the arm badge. "This is…"

"Oh, Shoichi-nii gave it to me, then Kyoya-nii wrote over it."

"Ano… may I borrow it for a second?"

Fuuta unpinned the arm badge and handed it over to Chrome. Chrome took it and turned around. Fuuta heard the sound of a marker being uncapped then recapped seconds after.

"Here…" Chrome returned the badge back to Fuuta.

Fuuta pinned the badge back on. The word 'Hime' had been added beside Shoichi's 'Kaichou' and Kyoya's 'Inchou'. "When are you going to stop hiding from Reborn?" Fuuta asked, curiously.

"I'll appear during the Varia mist battle… if all goes to plan." Chrome looked towards the door of the roof. Fuuta followed her gaze. The door opened seconds after.

"Yo, Fuuta." Takeshi waved at them. He nodded to Chrome who nodded back.

"Fuuta… I'll see you later…" Chrome disappeared. Takeshi walked towards Fuuta after shutting the door behind him.

"Takeshi-nii!" Fuuta gave Takeshi a hug. "Don't you have class?"

"Ahaha… it's lunch time right now. Chrome set a barrier around on the roof so you probably didn't hear the bell ring." Takeshi explained, patting Fuuta on the head. Then he noticed the arm badge. "Wow, that's some amazing item you've got there." he laughed. "Fuuta, do you want to join us for lunch?"

"With Hayato-nii and … Tsuna-nii?"

"Yup."

Fuuta bit his lips. "Tsuna-nii…"

Takeshi patted Fuuta on the head again. "Tsuna doesn't have memories." It came out too bluntly for Fuuta's liking. Fuuta cringed and buried his head into Takeshi's stomach. Takeshi glanced around the roof before quickly attempting to calm Fuuta. "Maa maa… Don't worry, Fuuta. Good things come to those who wait. If you are patient, you will definitely be rewarded."

"Takeshi-nii… you aren't making sense."

Takeshi laughed and ruffled Fuuta's hair. "Maa maa, don't worry about it. I guess you should return to Hibari or Irie. The roof will be crowded soon."

Fuuta nodded before running towards the door, waving at Takeshi. Takeshi waved back until he heard the sound of the door closing.

He sighed and leaned against the fence. "Nee 'Hime'." He called to the empty roof. "The fence is sturdy this time, right?"

Takeshi heard a chuckle. "Would you like to test it?"

"Nah, I'll pass."

* * *

Fuuta experienced the effect of the 'amazing item' full force. Students parted like the red sea for him, all eyeing the badge on his arm and whispering at each other quietly. Even the teachers stepped out of the way for him. Fuuta easily made it back to the DC office.

Kyoya slid the door open after the first knock and let Fuuta in. He smirked as he eyed the arm badge. "Wao. I believe the herbivore did not give you any trouble."

Fuuta shook his head. "No one gave me any trouble." He looked at the badge. "Takeshi-nii called this badge an 'amazing item'." Fuuta now wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.

"Eh?" Shoichi walked towards Fuuta and lifted his arm to look at the badge. He turned towards Kyoya. "Hibari-san… You have your own 'Guest' badge."

"Hn. Troublesome to find."

"It doesn't mean you could scribble on mine…" Shoichi wailed. Kyoya ignored him, walking back to his desk to prepare for his patrol.

"Shoichi-nii, where are Lambo and I-pin?" Fuuta looked around the office. The table I-pin was at was now cleared.

"Oh, they've returned back to the Sawada Residence." Shoichi glanced at the clock. "Only Gokudera-kun is left, right? Do you want to meet with him first before meeting Tsuna?"

Fuuta nodded. "Yes please."

"You'll need to wait for an hour then. He is in class right now and I don't think I'll be able to pull him out…" considering Hayato's record.

"It's fine Shoichi-nii. Can I wait here?"

Fuuta was granted permission.

* * *

Takeshi picked Fuuta up after school. "Ahaha, Fuuta, I'll take you to Hayato." They went to the back of the school.

Hayato was leaning against the wall, staring at the sky. He turned at the sound of their footsteps. "Fuuta."

"Hayato-nii!" Fuuta gave Hayato a hug. "You don't smoke?"

Hayato patted Fuuta on the head. "Yeah. Back in Italy, I lived with my mother. I didn't get to pick up the habit."

Fuuta stared at Hayato, wide eyed. "Your mother is alive?"

"Yeah. Thanks to Juudaime and Reborn-san …and Shamal." He grumbled the last name. "You arrived today?"

Fuuta nodded.

"So you're going to see Juudaime later?"

Fuuta bit his lip for half a second before nodding.

Hayato caught the hesitance anyways. "Want us to come with you?"

"… Are you busy?"

Hayato ruffled his hair. "I'm not busy and the baseball freak will come whether he is busy or not."

"Maa maa, I'm not busy." Takeshi laughed. "Let's go then, Fuuta. Tsuna should be home by now."

…

"Fuuta. When did you arrive?" Reborn appeared on the gate wall of the Sawada Residence.

"I arrived this morning. I visited everyone else first."

Reborn nodded. "You're not being chased?"

Fuuta shook his head. "No. I planned this trip in advance. Though I had to finish a few things earlier…" Reborn's decision to arrive months earlier had shaken up everyone's schedules. Of course, Reborn was shamelessly proud of that fact.

"Maa maa, it's good that you are not chased." Takeshi rang the doorbell. Tsuna appeared seconds later.

"Takeshi? Gokudera-san?" Tsuna peered at the boy. "Who's this?"

"This is Fuuta." Takeshi patted Fuuta on the head.

"He's family." Hayato placed an arm on Fuuta's shoulder, noticing the arm badge for the first time.

"He's the 'Sol-nii' kind of strong." Takeshi clarified, reading Tsuna's expression. It was natural for Tsuna to be weary of an unknown person at his door. He has had consecutive strange experiences with all of them.

Tsuna calmed down at the reassurance. This kid would not go punching him or hitting him with that huge book, it seems. He bent down to meet Fuuta at eye level. "I am Sawada Tsunayoshi. Call me Tsuna." Then Tsuna noticed the arm badge. He blinked. "Are you someone's 'little sibling' like how Lambo is Sol-nii's and I-pin is Hibari-niisan's?"

At the question, Fuuta tilted his head down to hide his hurt expression. Both Hayato and Takeshi leapt in.

"Fuuta would be the 'little sibling' of all of us. Including Senpai." Takeshi pointed at himself and Hayato.

"Though Fuuta's primary caretaker was Aneki." With Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"Bianchi's?" Tsuna straightened. "I'll go get her now."

Hearing that, Hayato screamed his farewells to Tsuna, Reborn and Fuuta before dashing home while he could.

"That arm badge…" Reborn walked over to get a closer look.

"It's an amazing item." Takeshi laughed.

Fuuta nodded. "Yeah. Shoichi-nii told me to keep it. He even wrote my name on the inside." Fuuta took the arm badge off and gave it to Reborn to see.

Reborn recognized the handwriting for 'Hime' but was not sure where exactly he saw it before. Shrugging inside, he returned the arm badge. Fuuta placed it in his book for safe keeping.

"Fuuta." Bianchi ran out the house and gave Fuuta a huge hug. Tsuna appeared outside moments later.

"Bianchi-nee." Fuuta hugged her back.

"Dame-Tsuna."

"I know. I told kaa-san already. You don't need to point your gun at me anymore." Tsuna sighed as he walked towards Fuuta. "Fuuta, would you like to stay with us?"

Fuuta nodded. "Yes. Thank you." He will brace himself for living with a Tsuna that isn't his Tsuna-nii. Takeshi-nii told him to be patient, so he will.

* * *

**Vivid x Dreams:** I have the entire Hibari backstory almost complete~ (i wrote the story in chronological order) I am just debating whether i should release it in bits or at once... Either way, it won't appear until after the Varia arc. The reason why Tsuna doesn't remember will be revealed in the far, far future...

**Glassed Loner: **That was why i was surprised, because she barely appeared and didn't do much yet. Well, i am biased since i wrote the story...


	13. KA -1- Countdown

Three weeks have passed. As always, Mukuro was right on schedule.

Chrome greeted Mukuro the moment he and his gang got off the bus to Namimori.

"Mukuro-sama, Ken, Chikusa, Lancia."

"Kufufufufufu… how have you been, my dear Chrome?"

"Fine, Mukuro-sama. I have prepared Kokuyo."

Mukuro patted Chrome on the head. She looked around. "Ano… where are the other people and Fran?"

"Kufufu… Fran is with the Varia. The Vindice will bring the others here in a few days. Chrome, do not involve yourself any further."

Chrome nodded. "Hai…"

…

"Mukuro-sama has arrived."

"Is he living with you or in Kokuyo?"

"Kokuyo. The other people will arrive in a few days. Fran is with the Varia."

"When is he going to start?"

"I think Mukuro-sama will start today or tomorrow."

"I see. Let's prepare ourselves then."

"Hai."

* * *

Mukuro was leisurely walking down the street, shopping for the next few day's worth of food, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Mukuro-nii" Fuuta called. Mukuro stopped and turned around.

"Kufufufufu… Fuuta, how have you been?" Fuuta and Mukuro had reconciled with the help of the past Sawada Tsunayoshi. It wasn't hard. With some gentle probing, Fuuta forgave Mukuro and Mukuro gave Fuuta a sincere apology. Really, years of being around Tsuna and Chrome did wonders to Mukuro's personality. It helped that Mukuro was secretly a very caring person in the first place and had a soft spot for his juniors and children in general.

"I'm fine Mukuro-nii. I've been living with… Tsuna-niisan"

Mukuro blinked at the difference of address. "Kufufu… is Sawada Tsunayoshi mistreating you?"

Fuuta frantically shook his head. "Nonono. Nothing like that… but… Tsuna-niisan is so different compared to before, so I am just not really used to him…"

Mukuro patted Fuuta's head. "Oya oya, don't worry, little one. With time, you will get used to this new Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Fuuta nodded slowly, Takeshi-nii's words echoing back to him. Patience, right? He looked at the bags on Mukuro's other hand. "Mukuro-nii, are you shopping?"

"Kufufufufu… yes. I need to prepare my 'attack'. The skylark will have lots of fun"

Fuuta was pretty sure Kyoya-nii will not agree with whatever 'fun' Mukuro-nii has in store for him. Ah, but… "Mukuro-nii…"

"Yes?"

Fuuta looked up. "You need to kidnap me right?"

Mukuro paused. "Kufufufufufu… indeed, I do. Fuuta, starting right now, I have kidnapped you. Follow me."

"Ok." Fuuta began to follow Mukuro. "Mukuro-nii, do you need help with the bags?"

"Kufufufufu… thank you." Mukuro handed one bag to Fuuta and they headed back to Kokuyo.

…

Fuuta was right. Kyoya-nii would definitely not agree with Mukuro-nii's terms of 'fun'.

Hours after Fuuta settled in Kokuyo, Mukuro had arranged a hit on 5 random DC members. It wasn't difficult at all to find 5, considering how they all dressed the same and have the same long pompadour hair. However, it seemed that the Skylark gave orders to avoid pineapple haired freaks, as while Ken and Chikusa were able to find their allotted 2 people each, Mukuro was avoided and run away from like the plague. In the end, Ken got to take Mukuro's quota, much to Ken's amusement and Mukuro's ire.

* * *

Kyoya was enraged.

No. Enraged would be an understatement.

In any case, Kyoya's aura had grown off the charts at the report Tetsu gave him.

5 DC members were in the hospital. Not that it was the issue of Kyoya's rage in the first place.

No. The DC herbivores don't matter. They have been sent to the hospital with more serious injuries before, courtesy of one angry Skylark.

The pineapple herbivore was in town and was making a mess.

In revenge for being labelled as a pineapple haired freak by the DC, Mukuro vandalized Kyoya's precious school with pineapple illusions.

Kyoya was going to bite the pineapple to death.

…

Tsuna was made an unfortunate victim of Kyoya's rage. They had their weekly lesson that day, in which Kyoya was begrudgingly forced partake. Kyoya was not about to throw away his routine for the sake of some pineapple herbivore after all.

Poor Tsuna received intense training, almost surpassing Reborn's.

* * *

Author's Note:

I could have combined the Kokuyo Arc into fewer chapters  
but the titles looked better if i released it this way... so i will


	14. KA -2- Five, Four, Three

Ryohei had been very eager, perhaps too eager, when he heard of the attacks on the DC members. He would get to extremely fight pineapple. As a result, the moment Ryohei learned that Mukuro was here, he basically ran around town in search for the blue pineapple, disregarding the fact that it was already evening and it was getting dark.

After running around Kokuyo and shouting "PINEAPPLE" many times, Mukuro was forced by Ken, Chikusa and Fuuta out to shut the boxer up. Lancia was too polite to do the same, but the though had crossed his mind after the 32nd 'PINEAPPLE'. Chikusa kept track.

…

"Kufufu… Sasagawa… shut up." Mukuro stepped into Ryohei's path.

"PINEAPPLE!" Mukuro twitched. "LET'S FIGHT" Ryohei punched the air.

"Kufufu… I'm surprised that the birdie hasn't bitten you yet." Mukuro took out his trident.

"HIBARI HAD EXTREMELY TOLD ME TO COME HERE" Ryohei screamed.

Mukuro gave no comment, noting that he should get revenge on the skylark for giving him this annoyance.

…

They fought.

This was going on much longer than Mukuro would have liked. This man was annoying him and he wanted to go sleep. Seriously, why was Sasagawa the Sun? Every injury Mukuro inflicts on him caused less damage than if it had been inflicted on someone else. Sasagawa's activation properties were very annoying.

"Kufufu… stand still. I'm supposed to send you to the hospital."

"Pineapple, is this the best you can extremely do?" Ryohei asked, with a hint of disappointment.

"Kufufu… you are too stupid to fall for my illusions…" Seriously, Mukuro didn't know that this type of defense was possible.

"I extremely thought you would be stronger" Ryohei looked depressed.

Mukuro gained a tick mark. "Kufufu… Sasagawa. Don't move. I will show you how strong I am." Mukuro activated his 5th path of the humans and slashed at the Sasagawa. Ryohei, in boredom, decided that he will stand perfectly still and take the full force of Mukuro's attack.

…

They stared at each other. Ryohei fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. He could not stop laughing. Mukuro twitched, completely annoyed. Sun VS Mist, it seems like Sun won hands down this match. Mukuro, with no intent of driving Ryohei insane, did not use any elaborate, gory illusions. However, it was quite possible that the illusions would not work on him. Ryohei frankly did not believe anything that he couldn't punch. Mukuro was aware that martial artists were strong against illusionists but he did not know that a boxer was considered a martial artist. Well, now that he thought about it…

Ryohei slowly recovered from laughing. "HAHAHA… Pineapple…" he quickly took some breaths. "I'll help you. I just need to be extremely hospitalized right." With that, Ryohei punched himself where Mukuro scratched him, widening the injury.

Mukuro sweat dropped. He shook his head slightly as he watched Ryohei cause more damage to himself in 30 seconds than Mukuro had during the last hour. Ryohei was still laughing at him.

"Sasagawa… Shut up and go to the hospital."

"HAHAHA… Alright, alright. Seriously, these wounds would extremely heal by tomorrow. I better go before I need to extremely make more." Ryohei then ran to the hospital.

…

"EXTREME" Ryohei punched the air.

"Sir… please keep still while we tend your wounds…"

"ALRIGHT. I'LL KEEP EXTREMELY STILL"

"And please keep quiet…"

* * *

Sasagawa Ryohei was in the hospital.

At least he was at some point between today and the day before.

Tsuna woke up and left the house for his daily extreme jog, waiting for Ryohei at the gate of his house. Gokudera Hayato was already there, as usual. The loyal right-hand man had adjusted his schedule to match Tsuna's. Tsuna stretched and turned around when he heard a familiar "EXTREME".

He was greeted by a mummy.

Sasagawa Ryohei ran towards Tsuna, completely wrapped with bandages. Tsuna blinked twice.

"O-oniisan!?"

"EXTREME. Good morning Tsuna!" Ryohei punched the air.

"W-what happened to you?"

"I was extremely attacked."

"Che. I bet the turf-top did the attacking." Tsuna turned to Hayato to defend Ryohei.

"EXTREME" Tsuna swiftly turned back.

"O-oniisan… were you attacked or did you do the attacking?"

"IT'S EXTREMELY THE SAME THING" Ryohei dragged Tsuna to start jogging.

"Um… who attacked you?"

"Pineapple extremely did."

"Pineapple…?" Tsuna had heard of that recently somewhere…

"Che. Pineapple bastard."

Tsuna blinked. Pineapple bastard… pineapple herbivore… Oh! A light bulb lit up.

"Were you attacked by the people who attacked the DC?" this pineapple gang.

"EXTREME"

Tsuna did not get any more information out of Ryohei.

…

Tsuna was leisurely walking with Hayato before the next attack happened.

Hayato suddenly stopped walking, staring at the person not far away. The person stared back. Tsuna looked between the two in confusion. The person was wearing some beanie and a green uniform.

Chikusa stared, communicating with his eyes. _Do we really need to do this…_

Hayato glanced at Tsuna once before replying. _Of course we do! I must show Juudaime my amazing battle_

Chikusa would have rolled his eyes if he displayed more emotions. _I'm supposed to defeat you…_

Hayato glared. …_I can still have an amazing battle. Now hurry up and attack._

Chikusa shrugged and took out his yoyo. A row of needles flew out towards Hayato.

Hayato easily countered with some dynamite, straight faced.

"Why are you attacking me. Yoyo freak." Hayato asked, monotone.

"… " Chikusa responded by tossing more needles. They were once again countered.

"Answer my question. You are being disrespectful to Juudaime." once again, monotone.

Dynamite were thrown at Chikusa. In response, Chikusa leapt backwards, in an effort to look like he was hit. He was pretty sure the battle went this way last time…

Hayato turned to Tsuna. "JUUDAIME! Are you alright?"

Tsuna nodded slowly. "Um. Yes. Are you alright, Gokudera-san? Who was that?"

Reborn answered the question, appearing out of nowhere. "He is part of the group that attacked the DC members and Sasagawa."

Tsuna turned to the 'defeated' figure. "He is part of the pineapple gang?"

By then, Chikusa had stood up. He blinked at the term 'pineapple gang' but nodded anyways. "We are attacking Vongola." it was said monotone, unsurprising considering it was Chikusa.

Hayato gave a loud gasp. "OH NO! Juudaime you are in danger!" He suddenly runs in front of Tsuna, shielding his body.

There was a brief moment of silence. Both parties did not move.

Hayato looked at Chikusa in the eye. _Hurry up and attack already._

Chikusa blinked. Oh right. He then sent some needles flying at Hayato, barely penetrating his clothes. Hayato fell to the ground.

"Gokudera-san! Gokudera-san! Are you alright?" Amazingly, Tsuna buys their bad acting.

"Juudaime… I am fine… escape before it's too late… I will protect you with my life…" Hayato laid on the ground.

"Gokudera-san! Gokudera-san!" Tsuna grabbed Hayato's hands, tears in his eyes.

"Juudaime…"

"OW" Reborn kicked Tsuna on the back of his head, unable to take it anymore. "Dame-Tsuna. Gokudera will be fine. I called Shamal."

Tsuna looked around. "Where's the pineapple groupie?"

"He left. Don't worry about him for now. Their group has been attacking people to find you, Vongola Decimo."

Tsuna shot up. "Find me? They were attacking people to find me?"

Reborn nodded.

"OH MY… I NEED TO STOP THEM." Reborn blinked at the sudden motivation. "IF I DON'T, HIBARI-NIISAN WILL BITE ME TO DEATH!"

Had Reborn not been above face palming, he would have done so. Instead, he kicked Tsuna again. "Dame-Tsuna. They are located in Kokuyo Theme Park. Gather your family to stop them."

* * *

Tsuna quickly found out that by 'gather your family', Reborn meant specifically Hayato, Takeshi and Bianchi. He also found out that 'gathering' consisted of your family being already equipped and ready for battle, waiting for Tsuna's arrival.

"Seriously, Reborn. There's nothing for me to gather them if they are more ready than I am."

Tsuna received a kick on the head.

"Dame-Tsuna, shut up and go to Kokuyo."

Reborn was irritated. Leon showed no signs of cocooning. Even after a long chat with Leon produced nothing. In the end, Leon decided to make the pair of mittens based on memory to get Reborn off his back. While that did silence Reborn, it did not solve the problem. Sawada Tsunayoshi did not show signs of being ready.

In the end, Reborn decided that he probably rushed things too much and to just go with the flow. Reborn obviously forgot to account for the fact that he was both earlier than last time and crammed a few months of training into 3 weeks. Well, Reborn had expected Tsuna to be prepared, having been trained by Hibari, Yamamoto and Sasagawa for years. Then again, Tsuna was never trained with his dying will.

And so, they arrive at Kokuyo. Tsuna looked around the deserted theme park. He had been here once when he was very young with Toku-nee, Hibari-niisan, Sol-nii and kaa-san. It was one of the rare trips that all four of them came with him. Tsuna remembered Hibari-niisan glaring hard at everything for some reason though.

They headed inside one of the buildings. Suddenly, Takeshi, who was leading, fell through the floor. Tsuna ran over and peered over the edge.

"Takeshi? Are you alright?"

"Hahahaha, I'm fine Tsuna. Wow, it went creak then I went poof and thump here I am."

If Takeshi responded that way, he was probably in perfect condition.

"Um… Wait there, I'll try to find some rope."

"Haha, there's no need, Tsuna. Go on without me. I'm not alone down here." On cue, a blond person in a green uniform stepped into view.

"What do we have here, byon?"

"Haha, Yo~" Takeshi waved.

"Takeshi! Is that one of the pineapple gang?"

Takeshi froze for half a second. Ken was trying hard to hold in his laughter.

"Yeah… probably. Just go on ahead Tsuna." Go on before Ken dies of holding in his laughter.

"Um alright then. Good luck." Tsuna called. Takeshi could hear the group leaving.

Ken exploded in laughter.

Takeshi joined him seconds after.

They stop after a while.

"How are you Ken?"

"Fine byon, better than ever in fact."

"Oh? What have you, Chikusa and Mukuro been doing?"

"Mukuro-sama has become awesome and famous in the mafia world. He is a freelancer that may or may not betray the person who hires him."

Takeshi sweat dropped. That is very Mukuro-like. He looked Ken over. "You… have been experimented on…?"

Ken nodded. "Kakippi and I weren't born with our abilities, unlike Mukuro-sama. So we asked Mukuro-sama to let us be experimented on again and then free us when we were done. It was not as bad this time. Mukuro-sama possessed one of the scientists and ensured that we were taken care of better."

Takeshi nodded solemnly.

"How… how is that girl?" Ken looked away.

"Girl? Oh you mean Chrome?" Takeshi got a slight nod.

"Haha, She's doing fine. She is hiding from Reborn though, I don't think she will appear before Tsuna until after the Varia arrives. She's been learning how to cook."

Ken froze. He slowly turns to Takeshi. "T-the s-stupid g-girl… c-cook?"

Takeshi nodded and laughed.

"NOOOOO BYON."

Takeshi laughed as he watched Ken freak out and run around the place. He hasn't been a victim of Chrome's cooking before. Ken was the biggest victim.

After a while, with Takeshi patting Ken's back in condolence, Ken finally calmed down enough to speak properly.

"Maa maa… It will be fine. By the way, how much longer do we have to stay here?"

"I don't know, byon. Mukuro-sama never said. Maybe another 5 minutes?"

"Ahaha… want to do some light exercises?"

Ken shrugged. "Sure byon." He pulled out his teeth while Takeshi took out his sword. "Lion Channel."

* * *

**Greeby:** Thank you! I try to update daily but i don't think i will be able to keep it up, cause my break ends on monday. i'll try to at least update once in 2 days, hopefully.

**Vivid x Dreams:** In bits it is~ Though i would need to reedit some chapters to 'keep the mystery going for longer'. Well, those are just details.

**Glassed Loner:** Add Sasagawa Ryohei to your list. Amongst the guardians, only Dokuro Chrome, Hibari Kyoya and Yamamoto Takeshi know something that the others do not. For now at least.


	15. KA -3- Two, One

Tsuna and company figured that it was probably a bad idea to continue into the building, so they went back outside to try a different one. Bianchi led them through to what appeared to be a lunch area. Suddenly, she pulled out some pizza.

There was a rustle of leaves then a red haired girl in a green uniform stepped out.

"I am M.M. Remember that. Well, that is if I don't kill you. This is for my Mukuro-chan." She pulled out her clarinet.

"Step back." Bianchi said, holding her pizza. She suddenly charged forward and stuffed her pizza in M.M.'s face. It was a one hit knock out.

"That was for my Reborn." Bianchi gave a dramatic hair flip. Tsuna sweat dropped. Girls. He didn't want to imagine how Toku-nee would be like…

Hayato suddenly threw dynamites to the side. An old man in a green uniform shuffled into view. It seems that the pineapple gang accepts people of all ages.

"Hoho. I wouldn't do that again if I were you." the old man pulled out some split-screened monitor. Kyoko and Hana were on one side and Haru was on the other.

"Go hurt the Vongola Decimo or else I will kill these girls." Suddenly, two freaky looking things that resembled 'the scream' appeared stalking behind the two groups of girls.

"Those are the bloody twins, they have killed more people than they have seen."

The old man stared forward, waiting. No one did anything. Tsuna and his family kept staring at the screen.

A canary flew onto the man's hat. "Screen, screen." it chirped. The man turned to the screen.

I-pin appeared in front of the weirdo stalking Kyoko and Hana. With a swift kick and punch, the weirdo fell to the ground with a crack.

Lambo appeared in front of the weirdo stalking Haru. He charged his horns and head-slammed the weirdo. The weirdo fell to the ground, charred, before he could even scream.

"I called them in advance. Don't underestimate the Vongola Family." Reborn announced tipping his fedora. Bianchi swooned over how cool he was.

Hayato sweat dropped over his sister's actions before refocusing on the old man. Tsuna, on the other hand, was focusing on the little canary. "That bird…"

"Che, it is the Skylark's. Well, it will be his soon."

Tsuna didn't quite understand but decided to drop the topic.

"Oi, old man, how dare you threaten Juudaime. DIE" Hayato threw a lot of dynamite at him. The man fell to the ground. "Don't worry Juudaime, he is still alive."

Tsuna gave a slow nod, suddenly he noticed a figure in the trees. He turned. "Fuuta?"

Reborn jumped onto Tsuna's shoulder as Tsuna ran after Fuuta.

Fuuta ran faster. Tsuna lost sight of him and found himself in a clearing in front of a building.

And encountered a man with spiky hair holding a huge metal ball.

"Vongola Decimo. I, Lancia, will defeat you." Lancia swung the ball.

Reborn jumped off Tsuna and shot him with a dying will bullet.

"REBORN! I WILL FIND FUUTA WITH MY DYING WILL!"

Apparently finding Fuuta was equivalent to defeating Lancia.

"WHERE'S FUUTA?" Tsuna asked Lancia, as he barely dodged the ball.

Lancia, meanwhile, was too preoccupied with swinging the ball in a way that will not kill Tsuna to hear the question.

"WHERE'S FUUTA?" Tsuna asked again, coincidentally avoiding the ball and managing to reach Lancia. Lancia froze, unsure what to do.

Tsuna gave him a punch. "WHERE'S FUUTA?"

Lancia dropped to the ground, pretending to faint.

Reborn pitied Lancia and decided to help him relieve some of his suffering.

"Tsuna." He jumped on Tsuna's shoulder. "Fuuta entered that building." Reborn pointed forward.

The dying will extinguished as Tsuna looked in the direction Reborn pointed.

Hayato and Bianchi appeared from behind them.

"JUUDAIME! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, Gokudera-san. Do you have some clothes I can borrow?" Tsuna sneezed.

Hayato instantly stripped.

"Gokudera, that is not necessary." Reborn said, though it was already too late. "Tsuna, here are some clothes Leon made. They won't be destroyed by your dying will."

"Thank you, Reborn…" Tsuna put the clothes on as Hayato redressed. "… Mittens?"

"Ah. Wear them." Was all Reborn would say about them. Tsuna shrugged and wore them. At least his hands would be warm.

* * *

The four of them entered the building.

And were stopped by Chikusa. Chikusa raised his yoyo and some needles flew forward.

"JUUDAIME. GO ON WITHOUT ME." Hayato screamed at Tsuna, moving to shield him.

Tsuna blinked. "but…"

"Tsuna, move on with Reborn. Hayato and I will stay." Bianchi coaxed him.

Tsuna gave a weak nod then ran into the next room with Reborn on his shoulder.

There was a pause as the two groups stared at each other.

"Now what." Chikusa put his yoyo away.

Suddenly they heard footsteps. Everyone turned to the door.

"Hahaha, you guys are here too" Takeshi and Ken entered. "Yo, Chikusa, how are you?"

Chikusa pushed up his glasses. "Fine."

"Kakippi! The stupid girl is learning how to cook, byon" Ken yelled.

"Who."

"The stupid girl, byon"

"Who."

"The… ARGH You know who I mean."

Chikusa proceeded to ignore him.

"Hahaha what do we do now?" Takeshi laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

Suddenly they heard a high pitched voice sing the Namichu anthem.

Hibari Kyoya stepped into the room, Hibird landing on him shortly after.

"Che, I told you the Skylark would get the bird soon." Hayato said to no one in particular.

"Maa maa, Hibari, I thought you would arrive earlier."

"He's right, byon. Mukuro-sama expected you to crash in here much earlier."

Kyoya's aura suddenly spiked at the mention of the pineapple.

"Herbivores. For crowding, I will bite you to death."

...

The four of them, including poor Chikusa, were bitten to death. Bianchi wisely moved to the side of the room the moment the Skylark appeared. It was very obvious that the Skylark was very angry at something and it was obvious what that something was. She did not want to be caught standing in his way of biting a pineapple to death.

The Skylark gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement after the massacre, continuing on to his one way path to the pineapple. Bianchi sighed and looked at the bodies on the floor. Time to treat them…

* * *

Tsuna stepped into a large room with what looks to be some sort of show room with a stage. There was a couch on the stage, with some figure sitting on it. Tsuna shivered slightly.

"Kufufufufu… oya oya, what do we have here? Vongola Decimo." The figure moved forward, a little light illuminating his features into view.

"I am Rokudo Mukuro." Mukuro gave a creepy smile but then his features tensed slightly. Was that recognition in Sawada Tsunayoshi's eyes?

Tsuna stared at Mukuro, eyes widening. "You…"

Mukuro waited.

"You… must be the leader of the pineapple gang!"

A tick mark formed.

"Kufufu… excuse me. I am not the leader of the 'pineapple' gang."

"Oh sorry." Tsuna was genuinely apologetic. "You must be the mascot!"

Another tick mark formed.

"Kufufu… I do not look like a pineapple." Mukuro could see the Arcobaleno stiffen while holding in his laughter.

"Ah… yeah. You don't look like a pineapple." Mukuro blinked. "But the way your hair stands up like that kind of reminds me of the leaves of a pineapple." Tsuna explained, completed with hand gestures.

"… it does not remind you of anything." Mukuro snapped. He materialized his trident and slammed the base onto the ground. "1st path of Hell." Columns of fire appeared out of nowhere.

Tsuna blinked and instantly freaked out. He has never seen anything like this before. Poor Tsuna, Mukuro has only just begun. The mafia world hasn't even started.

Suddenly there was a loud slam. Hibari Kyoya stepped into the room and instantly ran forward to bite the pineapple. Mukuro quickly went into path 4, his eye flaring with mist flames, and swung his trident in defense. There was a long clash of tonfa on trident.

"Oya oya, birdie… what did I do to warrant such a pleasant greeting?"

"Pineapple herbivore. I will bite you to death." Kyoya growled.

"Kufufu… unfortunately, I do not have time to play with you right now." Mukuro suddenly slammed his trident down again.

...

Tsuna gaped as he saw this huge bubble form around him, Reborn and the pineapple haired person. Kyoya disappeared from view.

"Kufufufu… please excuse that minor interruption." Mukuro will need to thank Chrome later for preparing the barrier perfectly. "Kufufu… where was I?"

"You just introduced path 1." Reborn kindly informed Mukuro.

"Kufufufufu… indeed." Mukuro twirled his trident and slashed the air in front of him. "3rd path of beasts." A rain of snakes fell towards Tsuna.

Tsuna blinked twice and ran for his life. "REBORN! SNAKES!"

"Dame-Tsuna, I'm not blind."

"THEN DO SOMETHING"

Reborn sighed and shot Tsuna with the dying will bullet.

"REBORN! SURVIVE WITH MY DYING WILL!" The special clothes Leon made stayed intact as Tsuna burst into flames.

Mukuro watched, not amused. "Kufufu… Still in Dying Will mode? I would have expected more from you, Arcobaleno."

Reborn grumbled. "You came 3 weeks after he was introduced to the dying will."

"Kufufu… indeed. It seems that I've overestimated the birdie." Mukuro sighed as he watched Tsuna attempt to burn the snakes unsuccessfully. "Weak."

"Tsuna's abilities and flames were sealed." Reborn took out his gun, prepared to shoot the snakes.

"Oya oya… those snakes… have the strength of worms. Sawada Tsunayoshi would find more success through stepping on them rather than trying to burn them with those puny flames of his."

Reborn said nothing.

"Kufufu… are you thinking that perhaps Sawada Tsunayoshi's unstable mental state is reducing his abilities?" Mukuro spun his trident. "Shall we try close combat? It is the Skylark's forte after all." The snakes disappeared. "4th path of Demons." Mukuro's eye flared with mist flames as he stepped forward to slash at Tsuna.

Tsuna easily defended himself. Reborn released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

"Kufufu… it seems that close combat is your forte as well." Mukuro attacked a few more times, each more powerful than the last, until it almost overpowered Tsuna. "Oya, oya… but it's not enough." Mukuro sighed. He jumped back and returned to path 1. A column of fire burst under Tsuna. Tsuna barely dodged with luck.

"Arcobaleno. I refuse to serve under a weak sky. If Sawada Tsunayoshi must succeed as Vongola Decimo, I'd rather force his abilities out for him."

Reborn quickly read Mukuro's hidden words. "Give him some time. Don't possess him."

"Kufufu… Arcobaleno, since when did I follow your orders." Mukuro rained some snakes around Reborn and entered path 6 without any further warning. He charged at Tsuna. "6th path of Heaven. Sawada Tsunayoshi, I will claim your body." He slashed.

A burst of pure, high density hard sky flames countered the attack. Mukuro stopped and stared. He examined his trident, which had evidence of the attack. He looked at Tsuna, who was in daze due to fatigue, then at Reborn, who was too busy defeating the snakes to see the flames. Tsuna collapsed to the ground, flame extinguished. "Arcobale-"

Suddenly, they heard a loud crack. The barrier shattered, revealing a highly enraged Skylark.

"Pineapple. I. Will. Blend. You. To. Death."

Mukuro blinked. Oh my, the skylark must be mad to drop the herbivore pronoun and declare he will blend instead of bite.

"Kufufu… calm, Skylark. I gave you a peace offering." Mukuro gestured Hibird, trying to placate Kyoya. He was not suicidal enough to provoke Kyoya when he is in a state of absolute rage. Kyoya's strength multiplied with anger. Even Mukuro knew when was a good time to stop in fear of his life.

Kyoya ignored Mukuro and lunged forward to attack. Evidently, the peace offering was not enough. Mukuro briefly considered activating the 5th path of humans but remembered about the Skylark's inhumane stamina. He will have to live with path 4 if he wants to save the chance of survival.

...

It was unfortunate for Mukuro that he became Kyoya's momentary outlet of years of combined stress because of some poorly timed actions.

* * *

**Glassed Loner:** You're welcome. ...And yeah. i don't know how to do fighting scenes. quite frankly, i can't see them actually attacking each other seriously in the first place if there is no intent of doing so... between a guy who wants to be as dramatic as possible to impress someone and a guy who just wants to get this over with as soon as possible... my sense of humour isn't any better

**Vivid x Dreams: **Thanks~ I haven't finished writing the story. i did outline the entire thing but there are still many key plot points i am debating about using. As for Chrome and Mukuro, i would imagine they have a balanced type of mental link. Mukuro knew almost everything in the original timeline because Chrome provided him the information. So if Chrome doesn't tell Mukuro something, he wouldn't know. the same is vice versa


	16. KA -E- Zero

Chrome stared at the black screen and sighed. Really, so much for preparing Kokuyo.

Chrome had planted cameras all over Mukuro's main room so she could watch the battle. She also wanted to see how strong her barrier was and how long it would last against Kyoya.

It evidently did not last.

The barrier was the last thing she cared about though. Forget about the barrier actually. The enraged Skylark completely destroyed the building, along with every single camera.

Shoichi moaned about his damaged cameras beside Chrome. Even the parts couldn't be salvaged. They could only be thankful for the fact that there would be no paperwork associated with the damage of the deserted Kokuyo Theme park, having purchased the entire area.

They would later learn that the Skylark did not destroy one building. He ended up destroying the whole park. It was so bad that the Vindice had to wait until he was done before collecting Birds and M.M. in fear of their own safety (the bloody twins have been long sent back).

Fortunately for everyone else, Mukuro was the only one who came out scathed. Reborn and Bianchi had pulled Tsuna out of Kokuyo as soon as Kyoya's rampage started, Lancia long went back to Chrome's house after his role was complete and Fuuta had left the moment the barrier was destroyed. The four herbivores Kyoya had bitten earlier had also been dragged out by Bianchi after she treated them, as she brilliantly foresaw the leveling of the building by the hands of the angry skylark.

* * *

Tsuna stared at the four herbivores with confusion.

"Um…" he looked at Ken and Chikusa.

Takeshi quickly answered his unasked question. "Hahaha… This is Ken, that is Chikusa." He introduced, pointing to them respectively. "They are family, along with Lancia and Mukuro."

Tsuna gaped. "P-pineapple-san is family?"

Hayato growled. "Yeah, the damn pineapple is family."

Tsuna did not even need to ask to know that Mukuro was the Hibari-niisan kind of strong. But… "Why did Pineapple-san attack us? Why is Hibari-niisan so angry at him?"

"Vongola style greeting." Reborn explained. The others sweat dropped at this answer, unaware of how true it will be in the near future.

"As for Hibari… err… Mukuro and Hibari have been arguing since forever." Takeshi laughed sheepishly.

Tsuna gaped again. "Arguing…? Arguing leads to… that?" He pointed at the pile of once-buildings-rubble.

Everyone turned away from him, suddenly finding the scenery much more interesting.

Reborn tipped his fedora. "Vongola style arguing." Once again, they were unaware of how true it will be in the near future.

…

Hibari Kyoya emerged from the carnage, looking extremely refreshed.

"Herbivores, the pineapple herbivore is somewhere in there." Ken and Chikusa instantly ran into the once-recognizable park.

"Is the damn pineapple still alive?" Hayato asked, sounding oddly hopeful.

Kyoya growled. "The herbivore is too hard to kill."

They heard a mutter of "damn cockroach" from Hayato.

"Herbivore," Kyoya turned to Tsuna, "Your training will be intensified." with that, he headed back to Namichu.

Tsuna moaned in horror but did not protest otherwise.

**KOKUYO ARC END**


	17. DA II -1- Mafia Land

"Mukuro-sama, good morning." Chikusa moved away from the bed side and pulled opened the curtains. Mukuro slowly sat up.

"Kufufu… that Skylark is violent as always." He stretched then examined his wounds.

"… You didn't need to vandalize his school…" Lancia sighed as he walked into the room. "Mukuro, Chrome left for school already. She wants us to keep her presence here a secret from Reborn-san."

Mukuro's eyes widened. "Kufufufufufufu… so the Arcobaleno doesn't know that my dear Chrome is here? Oya oya, Chrome hid herself very well. Of course we will help her hide." He stood up and examined his trident. "Kufufu… it seems like I will need to send this to the Professor to repair. Chikusa."

Chikusa took the trident then left the room to package and send it off.

"Mukuro-sama." Ken entered the room from the kitchen, judging the food in his hands. "The Sun Arcobaleno invited us to go to Mafia Land, byon."

"Kufufufufufu… and I take it that you would like to go." The puppy-dog tail that subsequently appeared on Ken was all Mukuro needed. "Chikusa, you going as well?"

"To babysit Ken."

"I don't need you to babysit me, byon." Ken shouted at the door.

"You made a mess in the kitchen."

"Eh, already? You weren't even gone for 5 minutes…" Lancia sighed. "Mukuro, you should go and relax as well. I will stay behind with Chrome."

"Kufufu… then I shall take the offer. When are they going?"

Lancia glanced at the clock. "Meeting at the dock in an hour."

"Mukuro-sama, your suitcase." Chikusa rolled a packed suitcase into view then to the front door.

"Hurry up, byon. It takes at least 45 minutes to get to the dock." Ken tugged some clothes out of Mukuro's closet and tossed it at him. Both he and Lancia left the room, closing the door behind them.

Mukuro finally noticed the huge pile of rope beside his bed at his feet.

* * *

Tsuna stared at the crowd in front of him. "…Reborn… I thought you said this was a family vacation for Kaa-san and I."

Reborn kicked Tsuna on the head. "Dame-Tsuna. They are family as well."

"It's alright Tsu-kun. The more the merrier~" Nana giggled. She walked over to Bianchi, Lambo, I-pin and Fuuta.

"…" Tsuna just sighed.

"JUUDAIME!" Hayato ran over to Tsuna. Takeshi walked over, laughing. Ryohei jogged over shouting "EXTREME".

"Isn't there school today…?" Tsuna sighed again.

"Ahahaha… don't worry about it." Takeshi laughed.

"TSUNA" Ryohei grabbed Tsuna's arm. "LET'S EXTREMELY GO"

…

"Eh?" Tsuna looked at the trio in front of him in complete surprise. "The pineapple gang is here too?"

"Lancia is at home." Chikusa clarified, giving no forms of protest against being labelled as the 'pineapple gang'.

Ken fell onto the floor in laughter. Mukuro gained a tick mark. "Kufufu… not pineapple."

Tsuna either ignored or didn't hear him. "Reborn, there's no one else here right? Toku-nee, Hibari-niisan and Sol-nii aren't here right?"

"They were invited."

"Eh." Tsuna stared at Reborn wide eyed. He turned to Hayato, Takeshi and Ryohei. "…You didn't see them, right?" He asked, hopeful.

"Maa maa, I haven't seen them yet." Hayato and Ryohei responded the same. Tsuna gave a sigh of relief then went to look for his mother.

As for Mukuro… he got some ideas for revenge of being called a pineapple.

…

Tsuna blinked twice. "Sol-nii?" He ran towards the familiar looking red hair and turned the corner. "Eh?" Tsuna stared at the empty hallway.

"Juudaime?" Hayato walked up to Tsuna. "What's wrong?"

Tsuna shook his head lightly. "No… I thought I saw Sol-nii…" He turned around to examine the opposite hall. "Sol-nii!"

Tsuna attempted to run across the hall but Hayato grabbed his arm. "…Juudaime. Look closely."

"Eh?" Tsuna rubbed his eyes. The owner of the red hair was a tall, largely-built man. The opposite of Shoichi. "But I though…" He shook his head to himself and chuckled. "I guess I was too paranoid…"

Hayato glared at the wall behind Tsuna. After giving a small growl, he led Tsuna to the dining hall.

"Kufufu…"

…

"… Hibari-niisan?!" The figure with a flapping jacket and black hair disappeared after Tsuna rounded the corner. Tsuna collapsed breathlessly onto the floor. He had been seeing Kyoya from the corner of his eye all evening.

"Mukuro, stop teasing my student." Reborn spoke to the wall.

"Kufufufu… it amuses me." Mukuro materialized before Reborn. "Arcobaleno, who is this 'Toku-nee' Tsunayoshi-kun spoke of?"

Reborn tipped his fedora with a slight smirk. "Hibari Tomiko."

Mukuro looked down in surprise. "A female Skylark?"

Reborn shrugged. "Hibari laid a hands-off order."

"Kufufufufufufufu… oya oya, it seems like the birdie has something interesting." Reborn watched as Mukuro walked back to his sleeping quarters, obviously thinking about the female Skylark. He did not just send the pineapple after the bird. Nope. Reborn is an innocent baby.

* * *

"… Mafia land… Mafia…?" Tsuna shrieked. "HIIIIEEE MAFIA?!"

Reborn kicked Tsuna down. "Dame-Tsuna, you didn't realize? The entire ship was full of Mafioso."

"Sol-nii, Hibari-niisan and Toku-nee are not here right?" Tsuna demanded from Reborn.

Reborn sighed. "Yes. They are not here." Tsuna gave a sigh of relief. "Dame-Tsuna, as our representative, go check in." Reborn pointed to a fancy building.

"… Shouldn't you go instead? Considering how famous you are around here…" Tsuna watched as a blimp with Reborn's face drawn all over it fly by.

He was kicked down again. "Dame-Tsuna, they are your family. Go be the boss."

"…I don't want to be the boss…" Tsuna sighed but walked to the front desk anyways.

…

"Um… I am from Vongola?"

"Do you have an invitation?" The front desk lady asked him.

Tsuna blinked. Damn that baby. "…No."

"I see. I will need proof that you are of Vongola. Please come in here." She led Tsuna into a room. Tsuna wearily followed behind. The lady handed him a wad of bills. "Go bribe that government official."

"Wait what." Tsuna stared at the bills, at the lady, then at the man sitting in the room.

"All Mafioso know the art of bribing." Tsuna was pushed in front of the man.

… Ha? Tsuna had no idea how to bribe someone. He thought back to the power trio of Namimori. Let's see, Sol-nii… would never bribe someone. Shoichi resorted to blackmail instead, but Tsuna had no blackmail material. Hibari-niisan… would also never bribe someone. Kyoya would just bite the herbivore to death. Tsuna glanced at the man. He probably would not be able bite a grown man to death even if he wanted to. As for Toku-nee… she would never bribe someone either. If Tomiko were ever in such a situation, she would talk herself out of it. On the off chance that it fails, either Kyoya or Shoichi would take care of it for her. Not that it had actually failed before.

"Sir, please hurry up."

Ok, what was the easiest option Tsuna had? "Um… if you don't take this bribe… I'll bite you to death?"

"…" There was a moment of silence. "Sir, if you want to bribe someone, you should at least hand them the money." The lady pressed a button on the wall. "You have failed." Tsuna found himself dragged off and thrown into some unknown location.

…

"Reborn… you planned this didn't you…" Tsuna grumbled at the baby in front of him.

"That's him, kora?" Colonnello landed in front of Tsuna and appraised him. "What did he say again? 'Change' was it?" Reborn shrugged. "Well, he changed alright, kora."

"Dame-Tsuna. This is Colonnello."

"Colonnello, kora." Colonnello pulled out his rifle. "Let's start your training, kora." He shot.

"By the way, Dame-Tsuna. Those are regular bullets." Reborn pulled out his hand gun and started shooting as well. "As are these."

"REBORN, DIDN'T YOU SAY THIS WAS A VACATION?!" Tsuna yelled as he desperately dodged the rain of bullets.

"It is a vacation. For me." Reborn pulled out a second hand gun and started shooting with both hands. "Colonnello will tutor you as well."

Tsuna screamed in horror.

* * *

"Was that Juudaime just now?" Hayato turned towards the direction of the scream.

"Maa maa, don't worry about it. Tsuna is probably having fun right now."

"EXTREME"

"…Do you have earplugs?" Chikusa asked, hopeful. The others shook their heads.

"But what if Juudaime was attacked?!" Hayato began to struggle in his seat.

"You should worry about yourself, byon."

"Ha? Are you crazyYYYYYYY" Hayato screamed as the rollercoaster raced downhill, all thoughts of Tsuna forcefully knocked out of his head by the wind.

…

Mukuro shook his head as he watched the five on the rollercoaster scream again.

"Muku-nii, you aren't going on as well?" Lambo was too short to ride the rollercoaster.

"Kufufu… as if I would ride something as brutish as that."

"So Mukuro-nii prefers merry-go-rounds?" I-pin asked, confused, as she bounced up and down on the horse.

"Isn't Mukuro-nii here because he is babysitting us while Maman and Bianchi-nee go to the spa?" Fuuta turned to Mukuro while on his own horse.

Mukuro refused to comment.

* * *

"HIIIIEEE" Tsuna screamed as he was thrown off a cliff tied to a bungee chord. Reborn and Colonnello had gotten tired of shooting him.

"GYAA" A voice screamed beside Tsuna. He looked over too see a baby in a helmet also bouncing up and down on a bungee cord.

"The lackey is here?" Reborn asked Colonnello.

"I found him sneaking around, kora."

"REBORN-SENPAI?!" Skull gasped in terror. "Oh wait, that means…" He turned to Tsuna. "BWAHAHA, I AM THE GREAT SKULL FROM HELL." He greeted, upside down.

"…Um… Hi?" Tsuna waved as he continued to bounce up and down.

"Dame-Tsuna, ignore the lackey and focus on your training." Reborn shot at Tsuna.

"Reborn… stop shooting me…" Tsuna moaned, pointlessly.

In the end, Skull joined Tsuna's Spartan training session as an errand boy.

* * *

"Welcome back, Mukuro-sama, Ken, Chikusa."

Mukuro patted Chrome on the head. "We're back, my dear Chrome, Lancia-senpai."

"The professor finished your trident. It's in your room." Lancia walked back into the kitchen to continue cooking.

"Kufufufufufu… perfect." Mukuro went into his room and examined the trident in satisfaction. "Kufufufufu… Chrome, would you happen to know where the Skylark is?"

"I think he would be patrolling at this time… Is there something you need from Cloud-san?"

"Kufufufu… perhaps." Mukuro twirled his trident to test it out. "Do you happen to know anything about Hibari Tomiko?"

Chrome bit her lip. "…I'm sorry, Mukuro-sama…"

Mukuro was too busy playing with his trident to catch her hesitance. "It's alright, my dear Chrome. I will go bird hunting later." He walked to the window. "Kufufufufu… let's play, birdie."

Chrome left the room quietly. She had an urgent call to make.

…

Mukuro pranced shamelessly into Namichu in his Kokuyo uniform. The other students stared at him. One of the DC walked up to him.

"Excuse me-" The DC member was quickly dragged away by another member.

"Don't you remember Inchou's order?!" He whispered to the first member.

"Hm?" The first member paused, then looked at Mukuro. In particularly, his hair. "AH!" The first member dashed away, with the second member quickly following.

Mukuro narrowed his eyes. He recalled what one of the DC victims of the countdown told him after interrogation.

"_We had orders directly from Inchou. 'Those who interact with blue pineapples will be bitten to death.' He said._"

So apparently, those orders were still in effect. Mukuro shrugged. He had a bigger prize waiting for him. He will grace the Skylark with not seeking revenge for still being labelled as a pineapple for now. Besides, because of the order, he could enter the school with no resistance.

Or not. Mukuro dodged a tonfa headed for his face. "Kufufufu… good morning to you too, birdie."

"Pineapple herbivore. Get out of my school."

"Kufufufufufu… don't worry. I am not here for your precious school." He paused for dramatic effect. "I am here for your 'pet'. Tomiko, was it?"

It seemed like it was, due to the Skylark's violent reaction. Mukuro quickly leapt backwards. "Kufufufufufu… I'll see you later, birdie." He vanished.

Kyoya growled and headed for the DC office. Chrome materialized in front of him. "…Sorry…"

"Do not say anything to the pineapple herbivore."

Chrome nodded slowly and disappeared.

* * *

Mukuro waltzed into Namichu, invisible, a few hours later. He had a single destination in mind: the DC office. Even if Kyoya's 'pet' wasn't there, it would still be a very good place to learn more about her. Mukuro made it as far as the front door of the school before he had to dodge a tonfa.

"Invisible pineapple herbivore, I will bite you to death."

Mukuro was forced to retreat.

A pink canary with Hibird chasing after it zoomed by.

…

After another 14 unsuccessful attempts over the span of 4 days, Mukuro was stumped. How was it possible that the Skylark would be able to sense him every single time? He knew that Irie Shoichi had a hand in assisting Kyoya, but the accuracy was phenomenon. The technology for seeing through Mukuro's strongest illusions do not exist and never had. Mukuro was sure of this fact, having assisted the team that created such machines in the first place. The materials for even a better tracker were impossible for Irie Shoichi to obtain as of this time. Perhaps the birdie's possessiveness and obsession heightened his Mukuro tracking skills.

Mukuro growled in annoyance. It seems like he would need to ask Chrome for assistance. Speaking of Chrome, she had disappeared a few days ago, saying that she had an important job to do at Namichu so she would be staying over at a friend's house near the school until she was done.

Shaking his head, he sought a random Namichu student on the street. "Kufufu… excuse me. Do you know of a Namichu 1st year named Dokuro Chrome?"

The student didn't. Neither did the next, nor the next. After asking at least 30 students, Mukuro began to grow concerned. He had no method of contacting Chrome and as far as he knew, none of the people associated with Sawada Tsuanyoshi knew either. Except for one person.

And that was why he headed to the Hibari Residence. The Skylark instantly appeared, as expected.

"Kufufu… Skylark. I am not here for your 'pet'. Do you know where my dear Chrome is?"

Kyoya narrowed his eyes but gave information, seeing how genuinely concerned Mukuro looked. "She is safe."

Mukuro knew that no matter how much he bothered Kyoya, Kyoya would still tell him the truth. The Skylark was not the type to lie, opting to remain silent instead. If Kyoya said she was safe, she was safe.

"Why does no one know of Chrome at your school?"

"… She goes by a different name." Kyoya took out his tonfas, signalling to Mukuro that he would not answer any more questions.

Mukuro sighed. "Kufufu… I do not understand your bizarre attachment to your 'pet'. You were never the type to act this way. Is the other birdie that special?" He shook his head in exasperation and disappeared.

Kyoya lowered his tonfas. "…If you knew, you would act the same way."

* * *

**Glassed Loner:** Haha thanks. i was worried that the humor might have come out too forced... I just couldn't write a serious Kokuyo arc. The Varia Arc won't be any more serious.

**Vivid x Dreams:** Varia arc starts after this chapter. DA II is very short.


	18. PA -2- Childhood of the Cloud

Author's Note:

I actually intended for the Varia to be released today  
but this chapter fit in better here...  
so, i'm sorry... Varia will be the next chapter

-1458

* * *

Hibari Kyoya was born with 2 thoughts in mind.

Number one: become a carnivore as soon as possible.

Number two: chase his parents out of Namimori.

In the original timeline, both of his parents lost their lives early in Namimori. The Hibari clan was renowned for being both powerful and feared. His parents were no different; they had enemies around every corner. It was very dangerous for them to stay at one place for a long period of time, even if it was within their territory.

Kyoya never forgot their final moments. The family had been attacked by a group of assassins. Everything would have been fine and well, had his father not underestimated Kyoya. Kyoya had noticed the gun being pointed at him from behind and had been completely prepared to dodge the bullet. He had been trained his entire childhood. A bullet would not put him down. When his father saw a gun aimed at his son though, he lunged in front of it, taking the entire bullet right into his heart.

It ended tragically for the entire family. Kyoya's mother barely managed to fend off the rest of the assassins before she collapsed due to grief. His mother had been very emotionally attached to his father. Kyoya watched as she slowly deteriorated until she finally took her own life.

As such, it was obvious what Kyoya would do during his childhood this time. After utterly defeating both of his parents in a spar at the age of 3, he kicked them both out of Namimori. He did not need his parents. He did not even know his parents well enough to be emotionally attached to them. He did this to keep assassins away from Namimori and to keep the Hibari Residence clean, without a trace of blood. Kyoya did not need something as herbivorous as a parent-child bond. He was not doing this because he felt guilty for being an herbivore and wanted his parents to remain alive.

Hibari Kyoya was a hypocrite.

In any case, he proceeded to slowly secure the entire city under his name, earning the title 'demon of Namimori' at the same time.

* * *

_Tsuna: 4_

Hibari Kyoya was the first to discover that Sawada Tsunayoshi did not have any memories.

That was no surprise.

Kyoya by far had the most freedom amongst all of the guardians. Sasagawa Ryohei was too busy babysitting his sister to the extreme. Gokudera Hayato was glued to his mother in Italy. Yamamoto Takeshi wasn't in Namimori. Rokudo Mukuro and Dokuro Chrome were busy in Italy. Bovino Lambo wasn't even born yet.

Kyoya did not recognize Sawada Tsunayoshi when he first saw him. Their first encounter had actually been in the park, though Kyoya did not associate the name "Sawada Tsunayoshi" with the herbivore until he saw him with Sawada Nana a few days later. While he was a bit surprised at the huge change in appearance, he did not think much of it otherwise. Tsuna had clearly stated that his appearance would change and as the key instigator, it was almost expected that he would experience a different rebirth compared to everyone else.

After a "Hn…?" and a blink, Kyoya leapt at Tsuna with both tonfas. Tsuna shrieked and ran away, crying.

…

The thought that Tsuna did not have any memories did not cross Kyoya's mind until another week of identical events.

In all honesty, Kyoya thought that Tsuna was pulling a huge prank on him or something. Tsuna had developed a love of pulling elaborate pranks on Reborn, particularly after Reborn forces him to do something crazy, such as infiltrate a human trafficking ring as a slave. It was a form of stress release. Tsuna had never pulled something of a similar scale to anyone else other than Reborn though, as Reborn was the only one who could come out sane afterwards. Really, at times like those, Tsuna acted like an amplified Mukuro.

It took another week of Kyoya sneakily stalking Tsuna for him to figure out that the herbivore was an actual herbivore and not an omnivore pretending to be an herbivore. Sawada Tsunayoshi had no memories.

He eventually got bored of watching over Tsuna and stopped stalking him but the damage was already done. Tsuna developed Hibari-phobia.

...

Kyoya continued to keep an eye on the herbivore, though at a much further distance. He watched as the old herbivore snuck into Namimori alone to seal the herbivore's flames. As expected, Tsuna became extremely clumsy afterwards due to his unbalanced soul. Kyoya watched the herbivore get bullied due to the said clumsiness. He had tried to bite the bullies to death to stop them but the results were unsuccessful. The parents were encouraging the bullying and Sawada Nana was oblivious. As time went on, Kyoya was getting more and more brutal with his biting from irritation.

Luckily for everyone, she appeared a few months after. And that was when Hibari Kyoya had his first formal meeting with 'Tomiko'.

* * *

**Vivid x Dreams:** Thanks~ I rewrote that last line so many times. in the end, i shortened it because it seemed the most kyoya-like this way... even then, it's kinda ooc

**Greeby:** i am 2 chapters ahead. ish. i wrote whatever chapter i wanted to so there are holes everywhere. i actually finished the first part of the future arc even though i am not even half way done Varia... i really hope i can keep up my one a day release schedule

**Glassed Loner:** my Shimon will be completely different because frankly, it can't happen if they remember. And you are definitely better at seeing the hints than i am. i reread it 10 times already


	19. VA -1- The Varia

Basil looked at the box in his hands and nodded with determination. Finally, he can go find and meet Sawada Tsunayoshi.

He gave a deep bow to Vongola Nono and exited his office.

Walking down the hall, he paused when he saw a familiar figure.

"Trash, the old man gave it to you?"

Basil nodded. "Yes, Xanxus-dono. I will board a private jet to 'Korea' tonight at 9."

Xanxus gave a huff. "Expect the shark." He walked past Basil and headed to Vongola Nono's office to pick up his box.

* * *

Two rains stared at person walking below while on the rooftop.

"Voi, is that trash him?"

Basil pulled out Tsuna's profile picture and handed it to Squalo. "I believe it is, Squalo-dono."

"The trash looks very different."

Basil nodded. "Indeed. Sawada-dono resembles Iemitsu-dono much more this time."

Squalo did not give Basil a response as he continued to watch Tsuna walk down the street.

"Squalo-dono, how would thou like to announce thyself?"

"The shitty horse isn't here?"

"Yes. I believe Chiavarone-dono is still in Italy. Art thou going to contact him soon, Reborn-san?"

Reborn landed on the roof beside the two rains. "I called him already. Basil, you have the rings right?"

"Yes, Reborn-san."

"VOI, just give the trash the rings then I will challenge him." Simple is best.

"But what if Sawada-dono does not agree?"

"The damn Hitman can just shoot him until he does like always."

Reborn merely tipped his fedora.

…

"Excuse me, art thou Sawada Tsunayoshi-dono?"

Tsuna nodded slowly. "Uh, yes I am…" archaic language user.

Basil smiled. "I have a delivery for thee." He handed Tsuna a fancy box. "Excuse me." He turned and left.

Tsuna stared at the box in his hands.

Reborn appeared and kicked him on the head. "Dame-Tsuna, why are you just staring?"

"Ow… Reborn! Of course I would stare. Who else would just open a box from a stranger? What if it's a bomb or something?" Tsuna had his fair share of bizarre experiences already. This box could fall under the same category.

Reborn kicked him again. "Dame-Tsuna, that is from the Vongola. Just open it."

Tsuna gave Reborn a look and gingerly opened the box. "… Rings?"

"Ah, they are the proof that you are Vongola Decimo."

Tsuna took one of them out. "…are they broken?"

"VOOOOOIIIIII"

Tsuna's head shot up to look at the figure as he slapped his ear to check if it was still working.

"TRASH. THE VARIA CHALLENGES YOU FOR THE POSITION OF VONGOLA DECIMO." Squalo swung his sword at Tsuna's head, stopping right before he reached Tsuna's neck. "PREPARE YOURSELF." With that, Squalo jumped away.

Tsuna collapsed onto the ground. "W-what just happened?"

"The Varia challenged you for the position of Vongola Decimo."

Tsuna turned to Reborn. "V-Varia…? Challenged? There's more than one person that could be Vongola Decimo?"

Reborn held his fedora. "Ah, there are other candidates."

"… I see. I'll accept the challenge."

Reborn stared at Tsuna.

As if reading Reborn's silent question, Tsuna answered. "Well, I still don't want to be a mafia boss, but I can make this Vongola thing less mafia-like after I take over, right? I want to prove to Toku-nee that I can stand on my own. She will forgive me if I enter the mafia to change it."

Reborn's fedora shadowed his eyes. "… Dame-Tsuna. Your ring is the one in the middle the box. The rest belong to your guardians. They have already been chosen; I'll hand them the rings. Your training will intensify starting tonight. Go finish your homework until then." Reborn left Tsuna after taking the other rings. He will need to have a long chat with Hibari.

* * *

"Hibari." Reborn barged into the DC office of Namichu.

Kyoya grunted in response to Reborn. He was alone in the office. Tomiko had left earlier to get some files from the Hibari residence.

"Hibari Tomiko will join the Vongola Famiglia."

Kyoya put his paperwork down onto the table and gave Reborn a solid glare. Reborn returned it.

"No."

Reborn's hands clenched the rim of his fedora. "Why?"

Kyoya gave a huff. "I do not want Tomiko in the herbivore's family."

"Hibari Tomiko has too much of an influence on Tsuna. Furthermore, she has more than enough qualifications to become Tsuna's advisor. It will not be difficult to ensure her safety and keep her hidden from the rest of the mafia and Vongola."

"Tomiko will not be in the herbivore's family."

"It will be in Tsuna's best interests-"

"I do not care about what is beneficial for the herbivore."

Reborn glared. "Hibari, are you still planning to be Tsuna's cloud guardian-" Reborn instantly shut his mouth, but it was too late.

Kyoya gave him a bloodthirsty smirk. "No."

Reborn cursed himself for giving Hibari strong leverage. "… On the condition that Hibari Tomiko would not be recruited into Vongola, will you be Tsuna's cloud guardian?" Reborn gritted out of his teeth.

Kyoya pulled out 2 pieces of paper. "Write it down, baby." Hibari Kyoya exhibited a 1000 watt smirk, disregarding the fact that there was most definitely no such thing prior to this.

Reborn grumbled and wrote down the deal.

"_Hibari Kyoya will be Sawada Tsunayoshi's cloud guardian on the condition that Sun Arcobaleno Reborn does not attempt to recruit Hibari Tomiko into Vongola._"

There was no need to call the Vindice. Reborn was forced to follow the contract for the chance of his student succeeding as Vongola Decimo again. As for Kyoya, he had his own reasons to follow the agreement.

Reborn left after leaving the half cloud ring on the table.

* * *

Tsuna stared at the Guardians in front of him in a mix of surprise, amusement and confusion. "Do I get an explanation of why they were chosen?"

"They fit the flame requirements." Reborn gestured the ring on Takeshi's finger. "For instance, Yamamoto is the rain guardian because he has rain flames."

"Eh? You guys have flames too?"

"Yup~ We can't use them without rings though." Takeshi focused his resolve. "Ahaha… it seems like the half Vongola rings do not count as rings."

The other guardians quickly checked with their own rings. "Ah. The half Vongola rings don't have a flame signature. It was made that way to keep them safe before the next heirs obtain them." Reborn explained.

"So you can't use flames right now?" Tsuna examined the half ring on his finger.

"Maa maa, Irie gave me a rain ring." Takeshi fished out the ring Shoichi gave him and put it on. It burst into blue flames seconds later.

Tsuna was mesmerized with the flames. "It's blue! Takeshi, it's blue!"

Takeshi laughed as Reborn kicked Tsuna on the head. "Yes, dame-Tsuna. We can see."

Tsuna turned to the other guardians. "Are yours blue as well?"

"Che. No." Hayato grumbled. "The Skylark is purple, pineapple indigo, cow green, turf-top yellow. My main flames are red, but I also have purple, green, yellow and blue."

"Wow" Tsuna stared at Hayato, starry eyed. Hayato fumbled in embarrassment.

"Baby. Can we leave." Kyoya growled, irritated. This was wasting his time. Mukuro shared his thoughts.

"Later." Reborn said, indicating he wanted at least 5 more minutes of their time. "I brought the tutors again." Colonnello, Dino and Shamal stepped into view.

Both Kyoya and Hayato growled. Ryohei was pleased. Takeshi laughed.

"Eh? Dino-san?" Tsuna stared, confused. "You can fight?"

Dino laughed. "Of course I can, lil' bro. I use a bull whip remember."

"I thought you were the Sol-nii kind of strong."

"The horse herbivore is neither." Kyoya glared, tonfas already out.

"Like Toku-nee?"

Kyoya paused, "Tomiko is far superior to the horse herbivore." He attacked Dino without any further prompting. The duo disappeared off to somewhere.

"Reborn-san. Does it have to be Shamal." Hayato grumbled.

"Ah. Shamal will train you. Yamamoto will be trained by his father, Sasagawa by Colonello and I will take care of Tsuna's." He turned to Mukuro. "I assume that you do not need any training."

"Kufufu… of course. I will take my leave then, Arcobaleno." Mukuro vanished into thin air.

...

And so, everyone decided to train for the sake of training. It was also better if they made sure that their bodies were as ready as their souls.

Tsuna experienced a Reborn Spartan training session for the first time. If he thought his past experiences were harsh, he would need to seriously redefine much of his vocabulary.


	20. VA -2- Sun & Lightning

"Trash." Xanxus 'greeted' the guardians in front of him. He had sent a message to each of them to meet to discuss the ring battle. All but Chrome and Kyoya assembled into the room.

"Yo, Squalo~" Takeshi waved.

"VOOOOIIII HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING, TRASH?" Squalo waved his sword back.

"Ahahaha yup."

"Shishou, are we having a touching reunion too?" Fran deadpanned, holding out his arms.

"Kufufu… In your dreams." Mukuro had an aversion to being touched, ironic considering how he loved to enter other people's privacy bubbles.

Fran pinched his cheek. "Tch. Not a dream."

Mukuro read the hidden insult and stabbed Fran, who gave a fake moaned.

Lussuria was busily chatting with Ryohei. There were moans, shrieks and screams of "EXTREME" coming from their direction. Bel was busy teasing Hayato, who was trying hard not to burst and destroy something. Lambo was staring, bored, at the scene. Mammon was floating near him, doing the same. Levi was standing beside Xanxus, as always.

…

Xanxus shot a beam of wrath flames straight at the group. "Trash." The guardians straightened themselves and focused on Xanxus. He looked around. "Where is your cloud trash?"

Hayato shrugged. "Somewhere with the horse." And that was when he noticed the bundle on Xanxus's lap. Hayato gaped. "Oh my… Don't tell me…"

The other guardians looked at him in confusion. Hayato pointed at Xanxus's lap. They turned and began to mirror Hayato's shock.

"…Ahahaha… That isn't Lizzie right…?"

The bundle on Xanxus' lap shifted. Lizzie poked her head into view. "Ta'…" She gave a sleepy wave. Takeshi returned it with a small laugh.

"…Tsuna-nii would throw a fit." Lambo also gave Lizzie a wave, who greeted him "Lam'…" in return. When Lizzie was forcefully recruited into the Varia via an amused Xanxus, there was a huge expensive argument between Tsuna and Xanxus. Tsuna was not amused in the slightest that a civilian child was forced into the mafia. In the end, they settled on an agreement of Lizzie living as a 'civilian' at Vongola for half a year and as a 'Mafioso' at the Varia for the other half.

"The brat doesn't remember. I can do whatever I want."

All the guardians fell silent. Lizzie hit Xanxus with a pillow. "Tsu'…" She hit him with another pillow. Lussuria walked over and picked her up before she caused a war to start in the room.

Hayato erupted anyways. "YOU ARE 6 YEARS EARLY. YOU DO NOT ABDUCT A 2 YEAR OLD BRAT JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE A CLOUD. SHE CAN'T EVEN STAND ON HER OWN YET."

Xanxus threw a glass at him, in which Hayato dodged out of trained reflex more than everything else. "Trash. The pillow brat is just too sleepy to stand and she will not fight in the ring battle. And your mist trash did worse."

Hayato turned to Mukuro in horror. "What did you do!?"

Fran answered for him. "Shishou abducted Chrome-oneesan and I the moment we were born." And that was not the worst of it.

"As the right-hand man, I will act in place of Juudaime. Pineapple, how dare you" Hayato began to chase Mukuro around the room. Mukuro fought back, in mixed amusement and annoyance. "Kufufu… as the 'right-hand man', you did not do anything during your childhood to assist your Juudaime other than stay with your beloved mother and perform piano."

Takeshi broke their argument. "Stop. Both of you." He was more concerned about what would happen when she learned about what happened in this room. "Xanxus, please continue."

Seeing Takeshi act so out of character, everyone calmed down in fear.

Xanxus grumbled. "The ring battle. We will keep the same results." Xanxus received no protests. "The Cervello trash are here to 'judge' again. The order of battles will also be the same. The cloud is still the pillow brat but I will fight in her place. That cloud trash of yours would prefer that." Everyone wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.

"EXTREME! HIBARI WILL BE EXTREMELY INFORMED LATER." Ryohei punched the air then paused. "Do we extremely act like we know each other?"

Fran immediately said no. Mukuro stabbed him. "Kufufu… we will limit our interactions but not deny that we know of each other. Just like during the Kokuyo attack."

* * *

"Reborn…" Tsuna whispered to the baby on his shoulder. "Those are 'the Varia' right?" Reborn nodded. "… They look weird."

"Dame-Tsuna, get used to it." Reborn advised. Tsuna slowly nodded.

"By the way… why Namichu?" Tsuna looked around, particularly at the huge fighting ring in the middle of the courtyard. "Hibari-niisan knows right?"

"Irie gave permission."

"…What if we damage something?" Tsuna did not want Hibari-niisan, Toku-nee or Sol-nii after his tail.

"The Cervello will cover the damages. Don't worry so much."

"Cervello?" Tsuna looked over at the pink haired, dark skinned women. "The judges are paying?" Where was the logic in that…

Reborn kicked him. "I said, don't worry so much. Focus on the battle instead." Reborn held his fedora over his eyes. He had tried to train Tsuna into Hyper Dying Will mode but failed to do so. Had Reborn not figured that watching the matches would be good experience for Tsuna, they would still be training.

…

"We shall now commence the battle over the Sun ring. Would the Sun guardians please step forward."

The two suns did after a shout of "EXTREME" and a "Mou~". They entered the ring.

"Dame-Tsuna. The Varia's sun is called Lussuria. She attacks with a style called Muay Thai. You see her metal knees? Those are her primary weapons." Tsuna nodded at the information, focusing on the battle. He did not give Lussuria's gender a second thought.

"EXTREME. LET'S HAVE AN EXTREME SPAR!"

…

Tsuna watched intently at the battle, following every punch and kick. While he had seen Ryohei fight before, he studied it considerably less than both Kyoya and Takeshi. He watched Takeshi whenever he was bored, though he did not pay much attention due to his lack of interest in the sword. As for Kyoya, Tsuna had been learning how to fight from him at least once a week for the past 7 years.

The others did not share his ambition. After an hour of sparing, Mukuro went home due to boredom. Lambo fell asleep an hour after that. Bel and Mammon went back to the hotel. Xanxus began to demand for steak, in which Levi ran off to get for him. Squalo began to yell at his boss for anything he could think of. Fran and Lizzie didn't even bother to show up. Kyoya was still somewhere with Dino.

Hayato was the one who broke the long stalemate. "OI TURF-TOP. JUST END IT ALREADY."

Squalo supported the claim. "VOOOOOOIIIIIIIIII"

Xanxus agreed as well, having finished his steak. "Trash. Hurry up."

"Boss says hurry up." Levi echoed.

Takeshi laughed.

"EXTREME" Ryohei gave another punch to Lussuria.

Lussuria responded to the cue. She threw herself onto the punch and collapsed in Ryohei's arms. "Mou~ To die by your hands… I am satisfied." Then she closed her eyes.

"EXTREME" Ryohei shouted back. He took the half ring from Lussuria and put the sun ring together. They both stood up after that and parted ways outside the fighting ring.

"…" The Cervello did not know how to respond. Xanxus motivated them.

"Trash." He shot a bullet near them.

"…We declare the Sun guardian of Sawada Tsunayoshi as victor." One of them said.

"The next battle will be of the Lightning ring. Assemble at the roof of this school tomorrow night." The Cervello jumped off.

Xanxus stood up from his throne. "Trash. Get me more meat." He headed off to the hotel, not giving Tsuna a second glance. The rest of the Varia followed behind, Levi carrying Xanxus's throne.

…

Tsuna ran up to Ryohei. "EXTREME! Tsuna, this is the extreme Vongola Sun ring." Ryohei lit the ring. A yellow flame danced from the ring.

Tsuna widened his eyes. "Oh, is that why you glow yellow sometimes?"

Ryohei nodded enthusiastically. "EXTREME"

Reborn kicked Lambo awake. "Stupid cow. You're next."

Lambo blinked, dazed. "Wha? Oh. Ryo-nii's done?" Lambo stretched. "Finally…" He promptly went back to sleep.

* * *

Hayato grumbled as he carried Lambo to the roof of Namichu the next evening.

"Gokudera-san? What's wrong with Lambo?" Tsuna walked over slowly, tired from his training.

"…The stupid cow had no sleep since yesterday because he was playing his damn video games." Hayato hit Lambo's head.

Lambo moaned. "Gokudera-shi… I won't be able to play for a while after this…" Whenever Lambo absorbed a lot of electricity, he would cause electronics to go haywire afterwards and was essentially banned from all electrical outlets until his body discharged completely.

Hayato hit Lambo's head again. "Stay awake, stupid cow." He put Lambo down.

…

Having learned from experience, the only people present for the lightning battle were Tsuna, Reborn, Hayato, Lambo, Levi and Squalo.

"We shall now commence the battle over the Lightning ring. Would the Lightning guardians please step forward."

Lambo calmly greeted Levi with a small wave. "Mustache."

Levi twitched his non-existent mustache and returned the gesture. "Cow."

"Reborn…" Tsuna muttered to the baby on his shoulder.

"What is it, Dame-Tsuna?"

"…Is Lambo really strong enough to defeat a man almost 10 times his size?"

Reborn shrugged.

…

To answer Tsuna's question, yes. However, that wasn't the result they were after.

Lambo stood still on the middle of the battlefield, watching Levi fire 'Levi Volta' after 'Levi Volta' after 'Levi Volta' at him. He yawned. Lambo's shock absorbing properties were carried over after rebirth. The attacks Levi gave him tickled at best.

Lambo had been worried that this would happen, wanting to end the battle as quickly as he possibly could to go home and sleep. He even left his horns and anything that could absorb electricity at the Sawada Residence. Unfortunately, Levi's attacks were still painless for him. Had Levi been against anyone else or Lambo had a different, non-lightning, opponent, they wouldn't have to suffer like this.

Lambo yawned again, noting how Levi's attacks were starting to weaken. It seems like Levi was reaching his limit. He gave a small sigh. Lambo wanted to go sleep. He fell backwards onto the ground and promptly closed his eyes. Sleep sounded very nice.

Levi stared at the snoring cow in annoyance. The stupid cow was not superior to him. No. The cow was only following Boss's orders. Grumbling, he walked over to Lambo and took the Lightning Half ring. He assembled the Lightning ring and walked towards Squalo.

"…" The Cervello once again did not know how to respond. Squalo was the one who motivated them this time.

"VOOOOIIII." He swung his sword at them.

"…We declare the Lightning guardian of Xanxus as victor." One of them said.

"The next battle will be of the Storm ring. Assemble at the front of this school tomorrow night." The Cervello once again jumped off.

Hayato sighed as he picked up the sleeping Lambo off the ground. "Juudaime, I'll take care of the stupid cow for the night." Hayato had foresaw this outcome and plugged all of the electrical outlets in his apartment in advance.

Thanking him, Tsuna slowly trudged home.

* * *

**Vivid x Dreams:** I am not releasing the backstory (im calling it the 'Past Arc') in order, but chronologically yes, that is when Tomiko comes in. And thanks; Reborn was so hard to corner without being too ooc.

**Greeby:** Thank you. And yeah, Tomiko's 'identity' will continue to be a challenge for everyone, both in and out of the story. Though i am quite amused that people keep thinking that she is very important, or at least more important than as she appears.

**Glassed Loner:** It has definitely paid off, in enjoying stories at the very least. The rest of your comment is important in the future, though at a different angle. I'm really happy that you figured that the contract was significant.


	21. VA -3- Storm & Rain

"Bel-senpai, why are we here?"

"Ushishishi, the prince needs an audience for his victory." Bel threw some knives at Fran. "Hurry up Froggy."

"Bel-senpai, no one wants to watch."

"Kaching." More knives found their way to Fran. "Mammon wants to watch the prince."

"…Mu" Mammon lost to the rock-paper-scissors round this time and had to be here as the representative of the Varia. At least he got extra pay for this. Fran was here because Bel forced him.

…

"We shall now commence the battle over the Storm ring. Would the Storm guardians please step forward."

"Ushishishi, brat, are you prepared to lose to the prince?" Bel tapped Hayato's shoulder.

Hayato glared at him and ripped the wire off his shirt.

"Ushishishi."

"There is a time limit of 15 minutes for this battle." The Cervello explained.

"Pink-haired-oneesans, can't it be 5?" Fran begged.

"Ushishishi, Froggy, the prince will finish in 1 minute."

"60… 59… 58…" Fran was stabbed.

"Mu, hurry up Bel." Mammon sighed.

They heard an "Ushishishi" as the duo disappeared into the building.

…

Hayato did not want to lose to Belphegor. However, he knew that it had to happen in order to follow the original timeline. That didn't mean that Hayato couldn't make the most out of his battle though.

Tsuna stared at the large screen. "…Reborn… is Gokudera-san ok?"

Reborn sighed. "Probably."

The screen was completely grey with dust, with the occasional rock hitting the cameras. There were sounds of explosions every other second. The wind funnel machines were so loud that they couldn't even hear the 'Ushishishi's. Tsuna, Reborn, Mammon, Fran and the Cervello watched as the smoke begin to pour out of the broken windows. Glass was flying everywhere and there was no way anyone could see what was going on.

…

Hayato emerged from the dust 4 minutes later, looking refreshed and unscathed. He gave a deep bow to Tsuna. "I'm sorry, Juudaime. I lost."

Tsuna ran over to him with whatever strength he had left after another Reborn Spartan session and straightened him. "It's alright, Gokudera-san. What happened?"

He rubbed his ears. "Those damn machines were so annoying that I couldn't go on."

Tsuna nodded, completely understanding where Hayato was coming from.

Bel stumbled out of the building 30 seconds later. He was all bloody (he had to cut himself) and dirty from the dust. Bel dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Hayato did not hold back at all.

Tsuna sweat dropped. "Gokudera-san… you lost?" it certainly did not look that way.

Hayato gave another deep bow. "I am sorry Juudaime."

Tsuna straightened him again, unsure of what to say. Fran helped him.

"Bel-senpai, that was over 1 minute." Fran crouched down next to the exhausted Bel and poked him. Bel stabbed the frog.

"Mu…" Mammon floated to the Cervello. "Oi."

"…" By now, the Cervello had spotted a pattern forming.

"…We declare the Storm guardian of Xanxus as victor." One of them said.

"The next battle will be of the Rain ring. Assemble at the front of this school tomorrow night." The Cervello jumped off.

…

"Herbivore." Kyoya appeared from behind and looked at his school. Tonfas appeared seconds later. "For the destruction of Namichu, I will bite you to death."

"Wait, Hibari." Reborn jumped in front of Kyoya and held out a document. "Irie agreed."

Kyoya grabbed the document and read it. Handing it back, he stalked off to the direction of Shoichi's lab. He had an herbivore to bite to death.

…

"Hibari-san! Don't bite me!" Shoichi barely dodged yet another tonfa headed for his direction. "It's summer vacation. There's no school either way. And the Cervello said they would pay for all the damage. The school will be as good as new. And Tomiko-chan agreed."

Kyoya stopped. "Tomiko agreed?"

Shoichi frantically nodded. "She even said that she would do all the paperwork." Shoichi lied.

Kyoya put away his tonfas and walked off.

Shoichi sighed in relief then freaked out seconds later. He would need to try to convince Tomiko that the paperwork was worth it. She would not be happy. Shoichi was so dead.

* * *

Reborn stared at the bundle in Lussuria's arms. Lizzie's head popped out. "Reb'…" She gave a sleepy wave then promptly curled back in.

"Reborn…" Tsuna walked up to Reborn. "Is she one of those crazy babies as well?" like Colonnello and Skull.

Reborn sighed. "She is a 'normal' baby." He looked up to Lussuria. "Where did you abduct her from this time?" In the original timeline, the Varia found Lizzie when they were lost in a forest in England. Lizzie locked herself in a tall tower in the middle of the forest so she could sleep in peace. The Varia, finding the tower by accident, ended up destroying it during an argument amongst themselves. Lizzie woke up and knocked out the entire Varia, sans Xanxus (he was waiting for the Varia at the hotel), in rage. Xanxus was so amused that he recruited her on the spot. She was 8.

"Mou~ We took her from the hospital. No property was damaged." Lussuria explained.

Lizzie on the other hand, had finally noticed Tsuna. "…Tsu'?"

Tsuna blinked. "Um. Yes?" he was a 'Tsu'.

"…" Lizzie shook her head slightly and threw a pillow that appeared out of nowhere at Tsuna without warning. This was not Tsuna.

Reborn instantly shot the pillow till the pillow case had a huge hole in it. Pebbles fell out of the pillow. Tsuna blinked twice and took a huge step back. "…Reborn… what was that?"

Reborn jumped onto Tsuna's shoulder. "She is Lizzie. She throws pillows filled with assorted items."

Takeshi laughed as he walked over to Tsuna. "Yo, Tsuna. I am starting soon. Let's go~" He dragged Tsuna to the viewing area.

...

"We shall now commence the battle over the Rain ring. Would the Rain guardians please step forward."

"VOOOOOIIIIII"

Takeshi laughed.

…

Takeshi and Squalo were having a friendly spar. Well, as friendly as a spar between Squalo and Takeshi could get. The two were exchanging whatever blows and techniques they could think of. There were shouts of "VOOOOOIIII" and laughter every second, along with rhythmic sounds of the swords clashing.

Tsuna watched as the water danced up into the air like a fountain, mesmerized. It did not look like sword fighting, more like a water gun fight in larger scale. While it was pretty to watch, the Rain battle was not popular. All of the other guardians and Varia cared less about all of the technical names and style that swordsman loved to call out. They could barely spot the difference between most of them. They wouldn't even know how and when someone won, unless it was obvious.

Squalo's sword suddenly shattered. Takeshi seized the opportunity and held Squalo in a checkmate.

Squalo just stared at his shattered sword. "VOOOOIIIII, BRAT, WHAT WAS THAT MOVE JUST NOW?" He asked as he pulled out his half Vongola ring to give to Takeshi.

"Haha, you know Senpai's maximum canon? I was thinking, 'oh what if my sword could do that too?' then whoosh and crash, it worked~" Takeshi laughed. His sword suddenly shattered as well. "Ahaha… I guess I shouldn't use it too much."

"…VOI." Squalo agreed. They leisurely left the arena.

"…" The Cervello were shocked that someone had a legitimate win.

Lizzie threw a pillow at them.

"…We declare the Rain guardian of Sawada Tsunayoshi as victor." One of them said.

"The next battle will be of the Mist ring. Assemble at the gym of this school tomorrow night." The Cervello left.

…

Takeshi laughed as he looked at the fragments of his sword. "Ahaha… I need to get this replaced." He turned to Squalo. "Sorry, Squalo. I think destroyed your arm."

"VOOIIII What are you talking about, brat?" Squalo pulled his arm into view. "I HAVE BOTH ARMS." They were not prosthetic as Squalo did not need to cut his arm off to learn a sword style that he already knew.

Takeshi laughed. "Ahaha, that's good." He walked towards Tsuna, who was blabbering about cool waterworks to an annoyed Reborn.

* * *

"Tsuna." Tomiko showed up at the Sawada Residence the next morning. Along with the usual yellow canary on her shoulder, there was a platinum blond canary resting on top of her head.

"Toku-nee?" Tsuna looked at her, confused, before remembering something. "Oh, it's today?"

Tomiko nodded. Tsuna reached behind his neck and took off the locket. He gave it to Tomiko. She took it after thanking him. "Tsuna… you look tired. You should take a break today. Don't overwork yourself alright?" She left after patting Tsuna on the head.

…

Tsuna refused to train with Reborn that day. Reborn begrudgingly agreed after being persuaded by Takeshi that Tsuna did look too tired to train properly.

* * *

**Glassed Loner:** Not at all. Thank you for the long review. i find much enjoyment in reading all of them. It's fun to see how others think and struggle XD. Lizzie has no mystery attached to her. i am more than willing to clarify anything about her. She exists to show that Tsuna's crazy life continues after canon and to complete the Varia. (initially i wanted a few more OCs to fulfill the same role (CEDEF, 'stray' in Vongola, etc.) but i figured that one well developed OC was better than a few weakly developed ones. i am still debating about a CEDEF OC though.) Lizzie does not significantly affect the plot in any way.

**Vivid x Dreams:** Err... Kinda? i'm putting a Past Arc chapter wherever it seems fit, usually in relation to what information is learned from the previous chapter. for instance, i plan to release another chapter from the past arc tomorrow. there are a few that i will group together though. by the end, the past arc should flow when read in chronological order, or thats what i hope at least. What I wonder is what happens to Primo when the ring is in half. does primo exist in 2 locations or cease to exist all together?


	22. PA -8- Childhood of the Rain 1:2

Yamamoto Takeshi was born laughing.

He knew that his mother will inevitably die of an incurable illness. Takeshi decided to do what he did best, laugh and smile, around his mother while he still could. He will watch her go with no regrets.

…

_Tsuna:7_

Takeshi entered Namimori with the strangest mix of feelings. He was still in mourning, but he was 10 times happier than his usual self at the same time. Luckily it was interpreted by his father as excitement, in which it partially was.

7 year old Yamamoto Takeshi helped his father load their luggage into their newly purchased shop. His father decided to relocate his business after the death of his wife, and thus, Takesushi appeared in Namimori.

As this followed the original timeline, Takeshi was not surprised to see a few familiar faces at their store the next day. However, he wondered why Tsuna wasn't with them.

Sasagawa Ryohei, Hibari Kyoya and Irie Shoichi gathered in front of the still closed Takesushi the day after it appeared. Takeshi spotted them from his room window and ran out the store to greet them.

"Senpai! Hibari! Irie!" Takeshi received an extreme hug from Ryohei. He glanced around. "Where's Tsuna?"

There were a few seconds of silence

"Tsuna extremely does not remember." Ryohei had a downcast expression on.

"He means that Sawada Tsunayoshi had no memories of the past." Shoichi elaborated. "I think he ran out of flames at the end to transport himself properly."

Ryohei nodded. "Tsuna also looks extremely different"

"Yeah, his hair is a lighter brown and his eyes are darker." Shoichi had a thoughtful face.

"He looks extremely manlier" Ryohei punched the air.

Takeshi sweat dropped. "Ah… hahaha… that's nice."

"The three of us are extremely training him!"

"Well… Sasagawa-kun is working on Tsuna's stamina, Hibari-san is working on his strength and battle prowess and I guess I am working on his academics." Shoichi shrugged.

"And Hibari's relative is also helping to the extreme."

"Eh? Hibari's relative?" Takeshi turned to Hibari. There was another Hibari in Namimori?

"Changed timeline." was the answer he received from Kyoya. Takeshi nodded though, this relative must be important to him if he changed the timeline for them.

"Hmm should I go meet Tsuna?" Takeshi was eager to see this new Tsuna.

Shoichi handed Takeshi some transfer papers. "Fill these out and you will be transferred into Namisho tomorrow. You'll also be in Tsuna's class."

"With my extreme sister!"

Takeshi took the forms and looked at Shoichi questioningly.

Shoichi scratched his head. "I transferred to Namisho and became the student council president. I'm helping with the paperwork…" Suddenly a beeping sound arose. Shoichi pounced on his watch. "Ah… I need to leave for school. See you later Yamamoto-kun."

"I extremely need to leave as well. Bye Takeshi." Takeshi heard Ryohei scream "EXTREME" as he ran to school.

…

Takeshi waved back at them as they left. When he could not see them anymore, he turned to Kyoya.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. Treat him like a different person."

"Eh?" was Takeshi's intelligent response.

"The herbivore does not know anything. Be the rain that soothes his worries. When those other herbivores arrive, they will make a fuss and try to force him to be something he isn't."

Takeshi nodded, he could already imagine some of the crazier people making a 'fuss'. "I should treat him like a different person? Isn't he still the same inside though?"

"…People change. Sawada Tsunayoshi's childhood is very different from his past childhood. His core is different."

"Alright. I'll treat him like a different person and be the rain that calms him during times of pressure."

Kyoya nodded at his response. He gave a glance as a show of farewell before stalking off to school.

Be the rain that washes away worries, the rain that calms all. We are counting on you, Yamamoto Takeshi.

* * *

Takeshi knew that Namisho would be different this time. Irie Shoichi had transferred over and became kaichou after all. Takeshi himself was very flexible and good at adapting to change, in which he took pride in.

The new Namimori Elementary was really pushing his limit of flexibility.

Since he had only 24 hours notice prior of his transfer, he was not able to fully comprehend the new system of Namisho until he was thrown in the middle of it.

In hindsight, he realized that he was provided all the clues.

Sasagawa Ryohei was the usual, doing his extreme jogs and dragging a child, whom Takeshi presumed was this new Tsuna, along with him with Sasagawa Kyoko calling them from behind. This was a usual scene, even in the past.

Hibari Kyoya was also the usual, standing by the school gate, watching his DC herd the herbivores. Takeshi approached him when gestured to.

"Baseball herbivore" Kyoya handed Takeshi a piece of paper. It had his classroom and schedule. "Sawada Tsunayoshi is in your class."

Takeshi took the paper and thanked him, scanning the content when suddenly a chirp sounded.

"Hibari, Tomiko" a red canary landed on Kyoya's shoulder.

Takeshi stared at it, wide eyed. "Hibird?"

"Shibird" the bird chirped in response.

"Shibird? Hibari, you have a Shibird?"

"Tomiko" the bird responded

"The bird is Tomiko's" Kyoya gave a final glance across the school courtyard and gate for misconduct.

The bird chirped again. "Tomiko"

In response, Kyoya turned and walked towards the school, leaving Takeshi in confusion.

Takeshi quickly spun out of his confusion and walked towards the school. He quickly realized he was lost moments later. He had few memories of Elementary school and the school was still just as big as the past. He decided to ask someone for directions. He tapped the closest kid on the shoulder.

"Hey! I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, a new student. Can you help me?" Takeshi smiled at the kid

The kid smiled back "Sure! Do you need to meet the king? Here, I'll take you there!"

That was how Takeshi found himself being dragged halfway across the school in search of this 'king'. Takeshi briefly wondered why someone would be called king but then remembered about some kid who insisted on being called 'Prince'. Perhaps this person was the same.

The kid suddenly came to a halt. Takeshi looked around him and saw a crowd of people surrounding what Takeshi presumed was the king. The kid proved his theory.

"King! I brought a new student." The kid ran into the crowd, pulling Takeshi along with him.

A familiar figure turned around. The king and the transfer student stared at each other.

Suddenly the bell rang. The other students orderly dispersed. They knew better than to crowd for too long or be late for class.

Shoichi looked very embarrassed. "Yamamoto-kun! Ah, um let me show you where your class is."

"King...?" Takeshi smiled.

"It's a nickname! I don't even know how I got it." Shoichi stammered. His face was as red as his hair.

Takeshi gave a good natured laugh. He patted Shoichi on the back. "Maa maa...That's a cute nickname. I should call you that too~"

"Please don't... Hibari-san and Tomiko-chan tease me about the name enough... I don't even want to imagine what would happen when Byakuran learns."

"Maa maa... It will be fine. By the way, who is Tomiko?" Takeshi recalled the earlier incident with Kyoya.

"Tomiko-chan is Hibari-san's family." Shoichi stopped in front of a classroom and knocked then opened the door.

"Irie-kun." the teacher greeted. "Is that the new student?"

"Yes." Shoichi turned to Takeshi. "See you later, Yamamoto-kun."

"You too Irie." And with that, Shoichi left.

…

Takeshi watched the interaction between the class and Tsuna with surprise. He had heard of Tsuna being bullied in Elementary in the past, but he was sure that it was different from this. Sawada Tsunayoshi was isolated from the class, save Sasagawa Kyoko and a few occasional students who would greet him and such. The students, however, spoke with so much politeness to Tsuna that Takeshi would have mistaken it for a new form of bullying had Tsuna not acted like it was normal. What really iced the cake was when the teacher spoke to Tsuna the same way. Takeshi was confused. Wasn't Irie the 'king'? None of the students spoke to the 'king' in such a polite manner, so why would they speak to Tsuna this way?

He was going to approached Tsuna after class to find out but Tsuna beat him too it.

"Um, Yamamoto-san?" Takeshi looked up in surprise to see Tsuna in front of his desk.

"Please call me Takeshi." Takeshi smiled.

"Then Takeshi-kun... um... do you know Sol-niisan?"

"Sol-niisan? …Irie Shoichi?" Takeshi received a nod. "Yeah. Why?"

Tsuna stared at him with starry eyes. "Are you also part of the family?"

"Eh? Family? Well... I am..." Takeshi was very confused. Tsuna knew of the family?

"Are you strong?"

Takeshi blinked. Well... "Yeah… I guess?"

Tsuna decided to rephrase the question. "Would Hibari-niisan consider you as strong?"

Takeshi nodded. He had evidence from the past that showed that Hibari thought of him as strong, or at least a stronger herbivore.

"How did you become strong?"

"Eh? um... I put in a lot of effort and... practiced?"

"Ok! Thank you Takeshi-kun." With that, Tsuna ran out of the classroom.

Suddenly, Takeshi had the weirdest sense of déjà vu but decided to brush it off.

* * *

Tsuna did not show up at class the next day. Takeshi was very distressed. For some reason, the weird feeling of déjà vu had still not left him and he was very confused as to what to do. Kyoya had his answers.

Hibari Kyoya entered into the classroom with no sense of shame. He glared at Takeshi. "Yamamoto Takeshi."

Takeshi jumped up. "Hibari?"

Kyoya turned and left the room.

The teacher looked back and forth between the door and the new student. "Yamamoto-kun, you are dismissed for the rest of class. Please follow Hibari-san."

Takeshi didn't need to be told twice.

...

Kyoya led Takeshi out of the school yard. There was a black canary perched on his shoulder.

"Yamamoto Takeshi. I told you to be the rain that washes away worries, not cause them."

Takeshi completely reflected his confusion on his face.

"Yesterday, the herbivore insisted on overworking himself during training and resulted in injury."

Takeshi swore in his mind. That's what the déjà vu feeling was about.

"The herbivore is in the park." Kyoya gestured the park nearby.

…

Takeshi ran to the park and froze at the scene.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was sitting on a swing, with a cast on his arm. He looked extremely depressed and Takeshi was sure that if Tsuna had been any older, he might have followed Takeshi's attempted path.

Takeshi ran in front of him and crouched down till they were eye levelled. "I'm sorry" Takeshi screamed.

Tsuna looked at him, confused.

"You asked me how to be strong right? I didn't tell you the truth." Takeshi paused to check that Tsuna was registering his words. "I arrogantly told you that all I did to get strong was put in a lot of effort and practiced. It is true that I put in a lot of effort and I practiced hard, but that is not how I got strong." Takeshi straightened. "I've failed. I've made countless of mistakes. I've been defeated a lot of times. But that's how I got stronger." Tsuna look at him, stunned and confused. "I fixed my mistakes, I practiced until I was sure I wouldn't make the same failure again. I trained harder each time and accepted my limits when I hit them." Takeshi gestured Tsuna's broken arm. "I also once trained so hard that I hurt myself. That time, I was very depressed and was about to make even more stupid mistakes. But someone helped me realize that it is alright to fail." Takeshi grabbed Tsuna's shoulders. "Have you ever heard of the 'dying will'? It is when you try your hardest to overcome your mistakes. It is when you refuse to give up even if you fail."

Tsuna blinked at Takeshi, then gave him a bright smile.

"Thank you. I was sad. Yesterday when I was training with Hibari-niisan, I couldn't do a flip. So I kept on trying even though Hibari-niisan told me to stop. Then my arm broke." Tsuna tilted his head downwards. "Hibari-niisan was very angry at me. I was afraid that he would tell Toku-nee so I didn't go to school today."

"Both your Hibari-niisan and Toku-nee are not angry that you hurt yourself." Tsuna looked up. "They are worried. They are scared that you will hurt yourself even more." Takeshi had no idea who this Toku-nee was but he was sure that she would feel this way. "I think they would be angry that you didn't go to school though. Let's go apologize to them later, ok?"

Tsuna nodded and smiled again. "I am Sawada Tsunayoshi. Call me Tsuna. Nice to meet you, Takeshi-kun. Would you come apologize to Hibari-niisan and Toku-nee with me?"

Takeshi nodded and smiled back. "Sure Tsuna. We are friends after all."

* * *

**Glassed Loner: **Haha ya. wait a bit longer. mist is next. And yeah, Tomiko definitely has a major role. her role will grow after Varia. Look forward to it~


	23. VA -5- Mist & Cloud

"Mukuro-sama, Ken, Chikusa, Lancia, Fran."

The five of them turned to the voice.

"Chrome-oneesan." Fran greeted back.

"Stupid girl! You made Mukuro-sama worry, byon!" Ken shouted.

"Ken…" Chikusa held him back. Lancia sighed.

"Kufufufu… my dear Chrome, where have you been for the past few weeks?"

"…I had something important to do, Mukuro-sama. I'm sorry… but I will need to leave again tomorrow to finish…" Chrome dipped her head slightly.

Mukuro patted her. "Oya oya, it's alright, Chrome. Take your time. I am just glad that you are safe."

"Hai." Chrome gave a slight smile as they entered the gym.

…

"Chro'…" Lizzie shifted herself, demanding that Chrome carried her. Chrome took Lizzie from Lussuria. She had been Lizzie's secondary caretaker while she was in the Vongola mansion, being one of the rare people who can understand her due to Chromes sensing ability. Lizzie was born stuck in a state between awake and asleep. As such, she had a lot of sleep but never enough rest. Due to his Hyper Inutition, Sawada Tsunayoshi was able to understand what Lizzie was thinking and feeling even when she appeared 'asleep' to everyone else. That was why Lizzie spent most of her time in the office with Tsuna, sleeping at the side of the room. It was her oasis.

* * *

A purple haired girl approached Tsuna. "Ano… Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna slowly nodded, weary of the question after facing many weird experiences after hearing it.

The girl bowed slightly. "This would be our first meeting… My name is Dokuro Chrome. Mukuro-sama took after me for a while."

Tsuna blinked. "Pineapple-san?"

Chrome widened her eyes slightly and glanced at Mukuro, who was too far away to hear what Tsuna said. "Yes… Mukuro-sama taught me how to use illusions…"

"Eh?" Tsuna finally noticed the trident Chrome was clutching in one hand. How he had missed it before, he would never know. Tsuna took a step backwards. Just because she looked like a peaceful person doesn't mean that she won't start making fire erupt from the ground all of the sudden or something. The baby in her arms was enough proof for that.

Chrome felt Tsuna's fear. "Ano… I don't use my illusions for combat… my expertise lie in barrier making and negotiation…"

Takeshi spoke up from the side, having witnessed the entire conversation. "Ahaha, don't worry Tsuna. Chrome is the 'Sol-nii' type of strong." in fact, the closest amongst the guardians.

Tsuna blinked and returned to his previous position. "I'm sorry, Dokuro-san."

Chrome shook her head with a slight smile. "No… it's alright."

Their conversation was cut off by Hayato.

"Which one of you are battling?"

Everyone focused on the four mist users.

Chrome instantly spoke first. "Ano… I am afraid you are misunderstanding something. I am only here to watch Mukuro-sama. I am not the mist guardian of Sawada. "

Mammon and Fran secretly sighed in relief.

"Ah. Me too." Fran suddenly spoke, rubbing his Hell ring.

"Kufufu… you were never the mist guardian, little one."

"Shishou, you shouldn't assume things."

"… Kufufu… you were definitely never the mist guardian."

"Shishou, of course I wasn't the mist guardian. You must be growing old." Fran found himself stabbed by the trident a few seconds later. "Shishou… it hurts."

"Oi Fran, are you battling or not." Mammon floated in front of Fran.

"Mammon-senpai, of course I'm not battling. I am not a mist guardian and I am only temporarily in the Varia. I also do not want to explode."

Mammon twitched. "Kid, are you suggesting that I will explode?"

"Mammon-senpai, I did not suggest anything."

"Kufufufufufu… Arcobaleno. Let's have you explode."

"I am definitely not paid enough for this. I will not explode."

"Kufufufufufufufu… we shall see." Mukuro materialized his trident.

"Fantasma."

They started without the Cervello's announcement.

…

There was a reason why every single person involved, sans Kyoya, were there to witness the battle over the Mist ring. It was by far the most entertaining battle to watch.

The terrain was changing every few minutes, colorful creatures were spawning at random, and Mukuro was focused on trying to explode Mammon.

"Kufufufufufufufu… explode, explode."

"Muu…" Mammon grumbled in annoyance, dodging yet another illusion that was trying to pull him apart. In terms of using illusions, Mukuro was superior to Mammon. Mammon's expertise were more diverse, including clairvoyance and curse casting. However, in an illusion battle, those other skills were not useful.

The victor was obvious.

In fact, Mukuro already had Mammon's Half Mist ring, having ripped it off him through an illusion that was aiming to rip apart Mammon's head. He didn't care though. He had an Arcobaleno to explode.

"Kufufufufufufufu… got you."

Mammon 'exploded'.

He dropped to the ground and slowly reassembled himself. "…Boss. I want 2 weeks of pay for that."

Xanxus complied, having witnessed a very amusing battle.

As for the Cervello… They hid themselves, not wanting to speak until the maniac pineapple was done.

"… We declare the Mist guardian of Sawada Tsunayoshi as victor."

"The next battle will be of the Cloud ring. Assemble at the front of this school tomorrow night." The Cervello could not leave any faster.

…

"Kufufu… that was fun." Mukuro walked over to the guardians. "So the birdie did not show up after all."

"Dame-Tsuna, where's Hibari?" Reborn was curious as to where he went.

Tsuna shrugged. "Hibari-niisan, Toku-nee and Sol-nii go somewhere every year on this date. They'll be back tomorrow for sure."

"Mammon-senpai, you exploded." Fran deadpanned as Bel gave an "Ushishishi".

Mammon grumbled. "That master of yours is insane."

Fran nodded. "Shishou has weird hobbies. He has an obsession over splatter."

The sharp end of the trident made its way to Fran. "Kufufu… quiet, little one."

"Shishou, it hurts." Fran turned to the confused Tsuna. "Vongola, I am Fran. This pineapple haired person is my illusion teacher."

Tsuna looked at Mukuro then at Fran in confusion. "But aren't you part of the Varia?"

"Temporary." Fran patted his frog hat. "Varia hat." The frog morphed into a pineapple. "Kokuyo hat."

Mukuro slashed at the hat in rage and dispelled the illusion, revealing an apple hat.

"Shishou, you wrecked my hat."

"Kufufu" Mukuro stabbed the apple hat. "Stop fooling around."

Fran turned to Xanxus, with the trident still in his hat. "Boss, I'm leaving the Varia."

Xanxus shooed Fran off then walked out of the gym, demanding meat.

"Ushishishi, the prince bids the frog farewell."

"Bye, fake-prince." Bel threw more knives at Fran as he exited the gym with the rest of Kokuyo.

…

"Reborn." Dino muttered to the baby on his shoulder.

"What is it, Dame-Dino?"

"Who is 'Toku-nee'?" Dino did not remember such a person in the original timeline and, after hearing Tsuna speak of her many times, deemed that she was probably an important person to know.

"Hibari Tomiko."

Dino stopped walking. "Kyoya's…?"

Reborn shrugged. "Apparently she was adopted. In any case, lives with Hibari. She does not particularly act like him, from what I gathered. Hibari is sensitive when it comes to her."

"…Does she look like a small animal?" Dino knew that Kyoya had a weak spot for small animals.

Reborn pondered about it for a second. "She is small… haven't seen her face before though so I am not sure about anything else. She wears this surgical mask over her mouth and hides the rest of her face with her hair." Reborn explained. "Dino, are you going to investigate her?"

Dino shook his head. "I respect my student's privacy. Unlike someone." He received a hard kick. "I do want to meet her though. I'll ask Kyoya about her later."

* * *

"Herbivore." Kyoya crashed into Tsuna's room early the next morning, Shibird perched on his shoulder.

"Hibari-niisan! You're back." Tsuna cried as Reborn turned curiously to Kyoya.

"Hn." Kyoya handed Tsuna the locket. Tsuna put it on after thanking him. Kyoya briskly left the room.

"Dame-Tsuna, what is that necklace?" Reborn asked.

"It's a good luck charm." Tsuna smiled as he tucked the necklace in his shirt. He did not provide Reborn with any more information. Outside, Hibird continued to chase the pink canary. A blue canary was laughing at the scene nearby.

…

"We shall now commence the battle over the Cloud ring. Would the Cloud guardians please step forward."

Lizzie nodded from the ground. "Kyo'…" She greeted then shifted back into her blanket.

Kyoya threw a tonfa at the Cervello. "I refuse to fight the pillow herbivore." He angled a tonfa at Xanxus. "Monkey king. I will bite you to death."

Xanxus smirked and took out his guns. Both battle hungry animals ignored the Cervello's protests and began to attack each other.

…

Like the Mist battle, everyone anticipated the Cloud battle. The only difference was that this time, everyone viewed the battle from a far, far location. They watched the battle while spread across neighbouring building roofs, dodging beams of wrath flames and stray tonfas.

Kyoya made sure, through both reading the contract carefully and demanding details out of the Cervello, that all of the damage done to the school would be completely repaired. Plus the fact that the Cervello will completely fund the repairs. Kyoya didn't even need to do the paperwork associated with the destruction for the school. (Shoichi had foresaw Kyoya's desire for utter destruction and relocated every single document and file to a separate location, far away from Namichu. Shoichi did not take advantage of the Cervello to renew the school.) As such Kyoya went wild.

Xanxus and Kyoya had a field day.

After almost obliterating every single building, the Cervello stopped the battle before the damage became too extensive (though it was already too late) and forcefully deemed it a tie.


	24. VA -7- Sky

Sky battle had to be postponed by a few days so the Cervello could restore the school. Every single building, save the gym, suffered major damage and ended up being completely replaced. Irie Shoichi was very happy about the renewed school. Hibari Tomiko was grumbling about the paperwork, forcing Shoichi to take half, but was not in a bad mood otherwise. Hibari Kyoya was in a very good mood.

Unfortunately, Tsuna could not say the same. To be more specific, he was terrified. To his defense, the Cervello were also freaked out over the two bulldozers. However, the Cervello did not have to live with the knowledge that Xanxus was after them next. Tsuna did.

Reborn was also not in a good mood. In fact, he was very stressed. Tsuna has not achieved Hyper Dying Will mode and Leon has shown absolutely no signs of cocooning. The best he could do was enter Dying Will mode without the bullet. Against Xanxus, Tsuna would not survive. All Reborn could do now was pray for a miracle.

* * *

Tsuna stared. Well, he was not the only one who was just staring. All of the guardians, Varia and tutors were also staring. "…Reborn… Why are there so many Cervello here?"

Reborn, like everyone else, was very confused. He shook his head slightly.

"All the guardians of both Sawada Tsunayoshi and Xanxus are to move to the gym. All spectators will stay in a viewing area. Sawada Tsunayoshi and Xanxus, please follow me."

"Trash. Explain." Xanxus has never heard of this.

The Cervello pulled out a document with a sky flame on top. "We have direct orders from Vongola to precisely follow their directions. Now please."

Xanxus figured that he could always get answers later, so he decided to humor them for now. He was in a good mood, having consumed a large quantity of high quality meat a few hours prior. While any one of them could easily take down the entire army of Cervello, they complied anyways after watching Xanxus follow their orders.

The group split.

…

Xanxus and Tsuna were led to the middle of the school yard of Namichu.

"We shall now commence the battle for the Sky ring." One of the Cervello said.

"All past results of the ring battles are now void." Another one said. She pulled out a remote and pressed a button. A screen appeared, showing all of the guardians and Varia collapsed on their respective battle fields with a metal pedestal between each pair. Xanxus narrowed his eyes.

"Your guardians have been injected with the poison 'Death Heater', which causes severe paralysis. There is a wrist-" The Cervello were cut off as Xanxus shot a beam of wrath flames at the closest pedestal, which happened to be the storm one. The screen was instantly shut off.

"Xanxus. You are forbidden to interfere with the fate of your guardians any further than this or we will have to disqualify you." The Cervello stepped forward, anticipating Xanxus's next move. They were too prideful to tell him that they ran out of funds to purchase cameras for every battlefield and what was shown on the screen were merely still images.

Xanxus gave an annoyed gruff. "Fine. Just start, trash."

"…" Seeing Xanxus back down, the Cervello decided to just start while they still could. "Then, you may begin." The Cervello dispersed as the screen disappeared.

Xanxus gave another annoyed gruff and looked at Tsuna in slight confusion. "Trash. You aren't worried about your trashes?"

Tsuna shook his head. "They are strong." Tsuna had complete faith that Kyoya would be able to overcome whatever poison thrown at him.

Xanxus barked with laughter. "Not bad for trashes." Xanxus pulled out his guns, satisfied that Tsuna exhibited a stronger will compared to the ring battle of the past. "Let's see how far the trash went." He shot.

Tsuna instantly entered Dying Will mode, his clothes tearing apart with the flames. Ah oops, thought Tsuna. He forgot to wear the special Leon clothes. All he had on were his boxers, the locket and his 27 mittens.

Xanxus almost dropped his gun.

* * *

In the viewing area, the spectators gave a similar reaction.

"Stupid Dame-Tsuna" Reborn was mumbling a long string of insults and curses. Tsuna's chance of survival just plummeted. At least with clothes on, the Dying Will mode could be mistaken for Hyper for a while.

Dino slowly pitied Tsuna more and more as he heard the baby rant on his shoulder. Dino inwardly shuddered. He would not like to be there to witness Tsuna's punishment.

Colonnello watched the battle sitting on Lancia's shoulder. He, along with everyone else, held back their comments in fear of invoking the monster in Reborn. Chikusa had managed to keep Ken and Fran's tongues in control. Chrome gave a deep sigh at the scene, worried. Shamal was not even flirting, instead studying Tsuna's flames carefully.

While none of them could see what was happening with the guardians and Varia, no one was concerned. They all knew that even if Xanxus did not help Bel, all of them would still be saved.

* * *

Hibari Kyoya easily ignored the paralyzing effects of the poison and destroyed the ring pedestal, administering the antidote to himself seconds later. He turned around and did the same for Lizzie.

"…Kyo'… whazzat…?" Lizzie had no idea what the poison was, having not been here the original timeline.

"Herbivorous paralyser." Kyoya growled as he picked Lizzie up. "I will bite the herbivores to death."

Lizzie slept through Kyoya's killer aura, used to it.

…

Kyoya headed straight to the battlefield of the Rain. He instantly gave Takeshi the ring and placed Lizzie right next to him. Kyoya left the trio without a second glance. Takeshi can handle the rest.

En route to the sky battlefield, Kyoya witnessed a beam of wrath flames and a creepy laugh that went something like "Ushishishi" seconds later. He stepped into the room to witness Bel teasing Hayato about the ring. After dropping his catchphrase, attacking Bel and throwing the storm ring at Hayato, Kyoya continued his one-way path to the battlefield. A plain black canary met him outside and flew onto his shoulder.

"…Hn." Kyoya gave an irritated grunt. Fine. He will wait.

…

Meanwhile, Bel had slowly recovered from his attack and moved to the gym.

…

Takeshi recovered from the poison considerably quickly. He cured Squalo when he was well enough to move. "… Ahaha… they are really following the original timeline…"

"Voi. Our shitty boss didn't plan this." Squalo grumbled. This was the first time he felt the effects of the 'Death Heater' and it was not pleasant. Takeshi helped him up, still holding Lizzie in one arm.

"Maa maa… let's go save the others." They suddenly heard a loud crash and an "Ushishishi". Takeshi laughed. "Let's go to the Sun battlefield."

The two Varia members agreed.

…

Hayato was a step too slow to get revenge on the other storm. Grumbling and irritated, he stood up and moved out of the building. A shout of "EXTREME" predetermined his path to the roof.

…

"EXTREME" Ryohei shouted again as he punched the air.

"Ahaha… who's next?" Takeshi asked.

They heard an explosion on the roof.

"VOOOIII THE DAMN MISTS"

The 5 of them headed to the gym.

…

"Gokudera-shi, you're alone?" Lambo asked, looking around Hayato just to make sure.

"Yeah." Hayato growled. "That stupid self-proclaimed prince…" Hayato's anger began to peak.

Lambo sighed. He looked over at Levi, who was frantically trying to find a nice angle to see his boss battle. "…Mustache, we need to move."

Levi ignored the cow.

"Oi mustache." Hayato growled. He was not in the mood and had no patience right now. Damn the pink-haired women. He threw a piece of dynamite at Levi. "We're moving to the gym."

Levi complied under force.

…

"WHAT THE F%*$" was Hayato's reaction when he entered the gym. What he expected was a pineapple and an Arcobaleno. Perhaps also the other guardians and Varia. What he got as an illusory battlefield. He watched as Takeshi, carrying Lizzie, ran from a huge bouncing pencil, laughing as usual. Squalo was trapped in a huge piece of jelly, unsuccessfully trying to cut himself free. Ryohei was punching what appeared to be an army of stuffed animals. Lussuria was doing the same to abstract paintings. Bel was attacking a broom and Mammon was submerged in a pile of pennies. Levi somehow found himself dueling vegetables.

"Go-gokudera-shi…" Lambo cried. He was running from a huge comb, tears in his eyes. Hayato gave a magnificent face palm.

"STUPID COW. I TAKE MY EYE OFF YOU FOR ONE SECOND AND YOU'RE ALREADY…AAAHHH" Hayato dashed from some purple muck, that strangely resembled something very familiar.

* * *

Kyoya watched as Tsuna do his best avoiding beams of wrath flames from an annoyed Xanxus. While he was holding better than Kyoya would have expected, it was nearly not enough. It was obvious that Xanxus will explode in boredom and irritation very soon. Kyoya briefly wondered how she was reacting to this scene before focusing his attention on the new arrival on the roof.

"Kufufufu…" Mukuro walked up to the railing, keeping a distance from the Skylark, signalling he was not here for a fight.

There were sounds of explosions and screaming from the gym. Kyoya turned to the pineapple. "Hn?"

"Kufufu." Mukuro gave a creepy smile. He held out his hand, the vine covered blue hell ring reflecting the moonlight. "Odiare Vite. Hate vines. Kufufu… they manifest what one hates in amplification." He lowered his hands. "It seems that someone set off my traps."

The moment the army of Cervello appeared, paranoid Mukuro made an illusion of himself and watched Mammon fall due to the poison. Mukuro, having not been present in the original timeline, had no idea what was happening and didn't know that the ring would cure Mammon. Instead, he set elaborate traps all over the gym, in case the Cervello returned. He left the gym after he was done and eventually found Kyoya on the roof. Seeing Sawada Tsunayoshi battle Xanxus in his boxers, Mukuro bemusedly decided he will join the Skylark in watching the herbivore.

…

"Weak Trash." Xanxus growled. He had prepared himself for a weak Tsuna, knowing that there was no way Tsuna would be as strong as the past self Xanxus knew. However, he was not expecting a Tsuna that was even weaker than him at the same age. "Trash. When he was your age, he had stopped fighting in his boxers for months. You have been trained by that cloud trash of yours. He hasn't." He put away his gun. "3 minutes. Land a hit on me in 3 minutes. Prove to me that the Hitman has not gotten soft. Prove that you are not weak trash."

Tsuna took a deep breath and charged.

…

"DAMN PINEAPPLE" An army of angry guardians and Varia led by one Gokudera Hayato stormed onto the roof.

"Kufufufufu… oya oya, so you were the mice caught in the traps." Mukuro chuckled, taking in their disheveled appearances. Hayato had purple muck on him, Levi vegetables, Lussuria paint, Ryohei fluff and Squalo had jelly all over his hair.

Takeshi laughed and walked to the edge of the roof, peering down. "Maa maa, what's going on down there?"

Mukuro refocused on the battle below. "Kufufu… Xanxus granted Tsunayoshi-kun 3 minutes to lay a hit on him. How many minutes have passed, birdie?"

"2.5" the black bird on his shoulder answered for Kyoya. The rest of the guardians and Varia lined up along the roof.

"…Juudaime hasn't landed a hit?"

"Kufufu… obviously." Mukuro shook his head as he sighed, waiting for the burst of hard flames he had once experienced from Tsuna to appear again.

* * *

"…That was 3 minutes." Dino muttered. "Reborn…"

Reborn gripped his fedora. "Ah…" Xanxus won't hold back anymore. And if they were really following the original timeline, there would be an infrared cage around the viewing area they were trapped in.

Everyone in the viewing area remained deathly silent. Colonnello kept a focused eye on the screen. Shamal crossed his arms. Lancia gave a small sigh. Chrome clenched her trident and closed her eyes.

…

Xanxus narrowed his eyes. "Trash. Did those trashes really train you?" He took out his gun. "Vongola has no need for weak trash. It will fall under you."

Tsuna was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He closed his eyes, flame on his head extinguishing. He wanted to give up. To stop being this 'mafia boss' character Reborn was dead set on him being. To stop being this great person Gokudera-san sees him as. To stop being the 'onii-san' Fuuta, I-pin and Lambo try to see him as. To stop being compared to 'him'.

_"Do you want to remain an herbivore forever?"_

Tsuna slowly shook his head.

_"Why do you want to stop being an herbivore?"_

"…To protect. I want to protect …" Tsuna muttered.

Xanxus, not hearing Tsuna's quiet muttering, took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a second and shot.

"…Toku-nee…"

"Tsuna." Tsuna felt a warm aura surrounding him. "You've done well." Tsuna cracked open his eyes, vision filling with warm orange light. "You must be very tired. Take a deep breath, you'll be alright." Tsuna opened his now orange eyes. "Shall we dance?" A flame appeared on Tsuna's head. The 27 mittens formed into X-gloves. Tsuna flew into the air just in time to dodge Xanxus's shot.

Everyone stared at Tsuna, who was floating in the air with the help of his X-gloves. He gently landed on the ground and in a blink of an eye, appeared behind Xanxus. "3 minutes." He muttered.

Xanxus spun out of his shock and gave a loud laugh. "Alright trash. 3 minutes. Show me what you've got." He took out his other gun and began dual wielding, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Tsuna danced in the air, dodging beams of wrath flames as he moved closer and closer to the source. Xanxus, in turn, responded by shooting more and more frequently.

…

"…So this is what you choose." Kyoya muttered as he watched Tsuna finally landed a hit on Xanxus from the roof. The rest of the guardians and Varia had already left for the Sky battlefield down below.

The bird on his shoulder chirped.

Kyoya sighed. "Weak herbivore."

…

Tsuna collapsed onto the ground moments later, very tired from being in Hyper Dying Will mode. The flame gently extinguished. Xanxus walked up to him.

"Humph. Trash. The ring is yours." He tossed his Half Sky ring to Tsuna, who weakly caught it. Tsuna assembled the ring and put it on. A flame slowly appeared on the ring a few moments later.

Xanxus turned and barked at the Varia. "Trash. Get me a lot of meat." He turned and headed back to the hotel. The rest of the Varia headed off as well.

The guardians ran up to Tsuna. "JUUDAIMEEEEE"

Takeshi laughed as he helped Tsuna up to his feet. "Ahaha, Tsuna, what happened there?"

Tsuna slowly shook his head. "I don't know… I just know that it felt very warm…" He sneezed. Hayato instantly gave him his jacket.

"Dame-Tsuna." Reborn, riding on Dino's shoulder, called.

Tsuna shuddered. "I'm sorry… those clothes were in the washing machine and I forgot to take them out…"

Reborn sighed. "Your training will be intensified." He jumped onto Tsuna's shoulder. "Good work." Reborn muttered.

"Thanks…" Tsuna muttered back, slowly falling asleep. He held the locket tightly as he fell unconscious. Thank you, Toku-nee.

* * *

**iAsajsd:** Haha... slit-mouth woman. ah, now im starting to see her as one as well... eh, i'll give a more detailed description of her appearance later. its not really like the slit-mouth woman.

**Glassed Loner:** It's fine. thanks for the review anyways. I'm starting to feel tired as well... suffering from a minor writer's block


	25. DA III -1- ROKUDO MUKURO

"He's just tired." Shamal straightened and took a step away from Tsuna's bedside. He turned to Reborn and shrugged. "Give him a few days and he'll be as good as new."

Reborn nodded. Shamal left without leaving Tsuna a second glance. Reborn sighed slightly. It seems that the recovery rate for this Tsuna was much slower than the past Tsuna.

…

True to Shamal's words, Tsuna made a complete recovery a few days later.

"HIIIEEE" He shrieked as he looked at his calendar. "Reborn, I was asleep for that long?! I missed school. I need to call Toku-nee or Sol-nii or Hiba-"

The baby kicked him back down. "Dame-Tsuna, its 4 in the morning. Quiet down."

Tsuna sighed as he looked down at his hands at the Vongola ring. "…Reborn…"

"You are the next successor of Vongola." Reborn smirked. "Let your training begin."

Tsuna groaned in horror.

* * *

Takeshi knocked once on the door of the disciplinary office and entered, sliding the door closed behind him. "Hibari."

Kyoya did not look up from the paperwork in his hands as Takeshi sat down across from him on the sofa. Both black canaries and a green canary were present as well, each doing their own activities.

"…Hibari. Tsuna is Vongola Decimo."

"Hn." wasn't that obvious by now.

"…" Takeshi sighed. "This was the result she wanted, wasn't it?"

Kyoya shrugged.

"Hibari." Takeshi blinked twice. "I'm surprised that you aren't doing anything about it."

"Hn." Kyoya smirked, finally looking at Takeshi for the first time. "I already did."

"Haha." Takeshi laughed, shaking his head slightly. "Of course you did."

Kyoya put down his paperwork. "The herbivore will need to get much stronger."

"Yeah… He was lucky against Xanxus."

"The herbivore's luck will not last."

"…yeah…" Takeshi sighed. "Mukuro doesn't know yet right?"

"Hn."

Takeshi nodded. "I'm surprised that Chrome managed to hide it from him."

"The pineapple herbivore just wants to make a mess."

"Maa maa, if Mukuro knew, he would definitely help."

"Hn."

"Haha, oh right. Tsuna's training starts tomorrow. He's all better now."

"…Hn…" That took long.

Takeshi shrugged. "Maa maa… it's 'cause they 'made a fuss'. With so many people appearing at once, it's given that Tsuna would be overwhelmed."

"Hn. Weak herbivore."

"Maa maa… he's trying his hardest. Like how you guys are." Takeshi stood up. "Well, I'll take my leave now. Call me if there's anything you'll need."

Kyoya gave him a 'I would never need help' look.

Takeshi laughed. "Ahaha, then call me if there's anything she needs." He gave a wave and left.

* * *

"Shishou, this is a crime."

"Kufufu… quiet, little one." Mukuro led Fran to the next point. To combat the pineapple sensitive Skylark, Mukuro and Fran set up layers of highly elaborate barriers around the Hibari Residence that blocked out all sensing abilities. Since Chrome was not around, Mukuro had no choice but to make Fran assist him instead. While barrier making was not Mukuro's specialty, with the help of Fran, he could create a barrier that could rival Chrome's, though at the cost of a lot of mist flames. "Kufufufufu… birdie, let's see if you can still win."

"Shishou, you are creepy."

Mukuro stabbed Fran. "Kufufu… quiet. Now, let's set the barrier point."

"Shishou, I don't want to participate in your weird hobbies." Fran complained as he helped Mukuro set the last barrier point. "No wonder Chrome-oneesan is hiding from you."

Fran was stabbed again. "Kufufu… my dear Chrome is too busy to help me. She is not-" Mukuro paused as both he and Fran spotted a familiar girl with purple hair walking from a far distance. The purple girl slammed her trident on to the ground the moment she noticed the mist duo and disappeared.

"…Shishou, Chrome-oneesan ran away the moment she saw your face."

"Kufufu… it appears that the barrier has been completed." Mukuro ignored Fran, in denial that Chrome had fled at the sight of him.

"Shishou, I'm going home." Fran took a step forward and slammed into the barrier.

"…" both mists stared. "…Pineapple, you locked us inside the barrier."

Mukuro blinked twice. "Kufufu…" He pulled out the barrier layout chart, comparing the drawing to the one they just placed around the house. He looked back and forth in confusion.

"…" Fran grabbed the sheet from Mukuro. "Shishou, you read it the wrong." He sighed and sat down beside a tree. Fran rubbed his 666 ring. "Shishou, Hibari-senpai will bite you to death."

"Kufufu… oya oya, that will not happen, little one. All we need to do is destroy the barrier."

"Shishou, didn't you-"

"Pineapple herbivore, I will bite you to death." Kyoya charged at the pineapple, both tonfas in hand.

"Kufufu… Skylark, you should be at school at this time." Mukuro quickly dodged from the attack. Kyoya growled and attacked one of the barrier points. Tentacles suddenly shot out and bounded Kyoya.

"…set traps on each barrier point." Fran finished, sighing. He turned to Kyoya. "Hibari-senpai, I am innocent. This pineapple haired person forced me to be here." He attempted to destroy the trap and got caught in it as well. "...Pineapple…"

"…Kufufu…" Mukuro was not sure what he should do.

"Hibari, Hibari." Hibird flew into the Hibari Residence and did a 180 the moment he saw his master. "Hibari, Hibari, stuck, stuck." He crashed into the barrier. "...Hibird, Hibird, stuck, stuck..."

As for Kyoya, his temper broke the charts. Infusing as much cloud flames as he could into his tonfas, he tore himself from the trap, only to be caught in another one. Kyoya was not happy. "...Pineapple…"

"…Kufufu…" Mukuro turned away. He knew it was not a good time to laugh.

"Mukuro-sama, what are you doing there, byon?" Ken ran into the Hibari Residence, shortly followed by Chikusa and Lancia. "What's this, byon?" Ken poked a barrier point. He was predictably caught in the tentacles.

"Ken… stop touching everything." Chikusa sighed as he reached forward to free Ken. It did not end well for him either. "...What a pain..."

Lancia blinked twice and surveyed the entire scene. "…Mukuro, what were you doing?"

"Kufufu…Lancia-senpai, I was trying to capture a birdie but ended up catching more than that."

Lancia gave a loud sigh. "Can you take down the traps?"

"…Kufufu…" Mukuro looked away.

"Lancia-san, Pineapple set the barrier up wrong so he doesn't know how to take the traps down anymore." Fran deadpanned. Despite his tone, it was very obvious to everyone that Fran was highly annoyed. Meanwhile, Kyoya had gotten himself stuck in another trap. The traps he tore previously regenerated. Kyoya's temper spiked.

"… I'll go call for help." Lancia sighed as he walked into the Hibari Residence in search of a phone.

…

Shoichi and Takeshi arrived hours later, carrying a huge barrier destroying device that Shoichi had to put together on the spot. Even with help, it still ended up being too big for him to carry alone. Thus, he recruited Takeshi for help.

Takeshi laughed as he wheeled the device into the barrier. "Ahahaha, you guys look so funny."

"SHUT UP, BYON" Ken screamed, red faced.

"Ken… stop moving." The tentacles trapping Chikusa shifted with Ken's every movement. It was not pleasant.

Takeshi laughed. "Maa maa, Mukuro, you haven't figured out how to take it down yet?"

Mukuro had been studying the barrier layout for the entire time, trying to figure out what the hell he did. Evidently, he was unsuccessful. Lancia handed him a cup of hot coffee.

"Fran, is there anything you want to drink?"

"Lancia-san, I would like a cup of well blended pineapple juice. Freshly blended."

A tick mark appeared. "Kufufu-"

"Pineapple. Shut up and work. Serpent Herbivore, I'll have the same. Crush the pineapple." Kyoya had given up struggling through the tentacles for now, not wanting to accidentally cause Shoichi to trip or destroy the device.

Lancia went back into the Hibari Residence after receiving the other orders.

Meanwhile, Shoichi and Takeshi had set up the device and wired it to the house. Shoichi tested it. "Hmm… I think this works." He stepped back and tripped on the wires.

"…" Everyone watched as Shoichi fell head first into the tentacles.

"Irie Shoichi." Kyoya stopped trying to hold in his cloud flames. They instantly spread across the entire yard.

"I'M SORRY HIBARI-SAN." Shoichi frantically shouted while upside down trapped in tentacles. He struggled and ended up being buried deeper.

"Maa maa Hibari, the device is done. Irie can just teach me how to use it." Takeshi walked to the front of the device and turned to Shoichi. "Irie, what's first?"

"Eh, um. Start with the black button in the corner…" Takeshi pressed a black button in the corner. There was a strange buzzing sound. "Ah wait no, other corner. Turn that first button off by pressing the black button under the green button." Takeshi pressed a black button under a green button. A light began to flash. "Waaah, not that button, the other one…" Takeshi pressed a black button under another green button. There was a loud beep sound. "Ah not that one either…"

"Irie." Kyoya's cloud flames grew exponentially. "Prepare to be bitten to death."

"Ahaha…" Takeshi looked at the device again in complete confusion. Takeshi gave up. "Maa maa… I can cut it with my rain flames." He took out his sword and coated it with rain flames. With a strong slash, he tore tentacle off, allowing Shoichi to tumble forward slightly. With his tranquility properties, the tentacles did not regenerate as quickly.

Takeshi smiled. "Ahaha, see~ I'll be done in a jiffy~" He coated his sword again and moved to slash. Suddenly, the machine gave a loud 'BAM'. Takeshi looked at the machine in surprise, stopping a little too close to the tentacles.

…

"Uh… What happened here?" Lancia came out a while later, holding a tray of drinks and snacks he fixed up. Shoichi's device was flashing random lights and sounding random noises. Everyone but Mukuro were stuck in tentacle traps.

"Kufufu… don't ask." Mukuro sighed as he tried to destroy the trap again, keeping a far distance.

"Ok… Irie-san's device doesn't work?" Lancia walked up to it.

"AH don't touch it, byon!" Ken screamed. The device had continued to make scary noises. While Shoichi had assured them that it won't explode, everyone else was still very weary of it.

"Lancia-senpai... unplug the device." Chikusa will take no chances.

The device shut off.

…

Chrome finally showed up at the Hibari Residence the next morning. Knocking the door of the gate once, she opened it and poked her head through. "…Ano…"

"Chrome-oneesan, save me." Fran brightened. Finally, hope has appeared.

Chrome nodded slowly, taking in the sight of a highly irritated Skylark, a very confused Mukuro, a tired Lancia, a dizzy Shoichi, a laughing Takeshi, a hungry Ken and an annoyed Chikusa. She studied the barrier points. "Mukuro-sama… you reversed half of the barrier…"

Mukuro blinked. "Kufufu… so it seems."

"Shishou, never do another barrier again." Fran grumbled. "Also, keep your fetishes to yourself."

"Kufufu… This is not my fetish." Mukuro turned to Chrome. "My dear Chrome, do you know how to take down this barrier?"

Chrome nodded. "I… will need to take it down from outside…" She pulled back. Or she tried to pull back. "…" Chrome attempted to shift backwards once more. "Ano… I think I am stuck…"

"… Kufufu… you must take the barrier down from outside?"

Chrome struggled to pull out again. "…Yes…" She sighed and stepped completely into the barrier. "I'm sorry…" She turned around to the gate, placing a hand on the barrier. "I'm sorry… Tomiko-sama."

The illusion around Tomiko dispersed outside the barrier. "No… it's alright Chrome." Tomiko sighed. "It was bound to happen eventually." She stepped into the barrier.

Mukuro stared at Tomiko in silence before finally breaking down.

"Kufufufufufufufufufu… oya oya, it seems like my dear Chrome and the birdie hid something very interesting from me."

He walked over to Tomiko and lifted her chin.

"Kufufufufu… I see, 'change' indeed. Though I am very pleased to see you again…

Sawada Tsunayoshi."

* * *

**Glassed Loner:** You actually took it too literally, like you thought... though i do not think that matters anymore. as for my next chapter... i only have half of it written. i hope i can finish it today.


	26. PA -11- Childhood of the Mist

The moment Rokudo Mukuro was born, he killed himself.

Then he possessed both of his parents.

…

Mukuro was born with all 6 of his paths. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering how it was his soul that was reincarnated 6 times. In all technically, this was the 7th time he was reborn. In any case, Mukuro faked his own death the moment he had his first breath. He did not trust his parents. He did not trust the doctors. He did not trust anyone in the area.

He called for Lancia. It was a gamble on Mukuro's part. He was not certain whether or not the bonds he obtained in the past had transferred over. Mukuro won.

…

Lancia's childhood was all in all, the same. Well, discounting the fact that he was renowned as the 'strongest man in Northern Italy' at the age of 10.

The Serpe Famiglia had adopted him with open arms, just like in the original timeline. This time, however, Lancia was hesitant. He knew that he would never be able to stay, no matter what happened. He had a debt to him after all.

The Serpe boss did not care though. The boss was unwilling to let a child survive alone in this world. He temporarily adopted Lancia into his famiglia knowing that Lancia would leave some day for a different famiglia. When asked which famiglia Lancia was looking for, Lancia just shook his head. He was not tied to a famiglia, rather a person. In any case, Lancia became the bodyguard of the boss at the young age of 8 and was renowned within a few years.

The cry from Mukuro came when Lancia was 11. Lancia had been anticipating the signal, knowing that Mukuro was to be born soon. It had been surprisingly easy in the past for Lancia and Mukuro to reconcile, all they needed was a proper place and time. In fact, it went so smoothly that Tsuna almost doubted his hyper intuition when it told him that everything was alright now.

As such, Lancia was on standby. At the call, Lancia easily entered Estraneo and took the 'corpse' when no one was looking. It helped that Mukuro had possessed everyone in the area and had casted a strong illusion over himself and Lancia.

Mukuro was also accepted into the Serpe Famiglia with open arms. The boss of the Serpe Famiglia had been told by Lancia in advance that he was looking for a few children and they were in his care. Lancia was allowed to do whatever he wanted.

…

Ken and Chikusa were not born with their abilities.

That also wasn't much of a surprise, considering how their bodies were what was experimented on.

Mukuro came for them with Lancia not long after they were born. Both of them expressed the desire to be experimented on again, as they wanted to regain their abilities. Mukuro sighed and allowed them to, possessing every scientist in the Estraneo before he left. If Ken and Chikusa must be experimented on again, Mukuro will ensure that they are taken care of properly.

…

The moment Chrome was born; she was hijacked from the hospital in Japan by Mukuro and Lancia and taken to Italy.

"Mukuro-sama, how did you smuggle me onto the plane?"

"Kufufufu… don't worry about it, my dear Chrome."

"Ano… I don't think Bossu would be very happy…"

"Kufufu… don't worry about it."

…

The moment Fran was born; he was hijacked from the hospital in France by Mukuro and Lancia and taken to Italy.

"Shishou, this is a crime."

"Kufufufu… quiet, little one."

"Shishou, I want to be there when Decimo punishes you."

"Kufufu… quiet."

* * *

_"Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories. Follow the original timeline."_

That announcement came just before Ken and Chikusa were 'completed'.

…

"Mukuro-sama, are you sure I should still go there?"

"Kufufu… don't worry, my dear Chrome, even if Tsunayoshi-kun does now know anything, that place is still the safest. That violent birdie will be more than enough for your protection, not to mention Yamamoto and Sasagawa would also be there."

"Mukuro, Chrome, we should get going." a voice called.

"Yes, Lancia-senpai. Kufufu… Chrome, I will see you later."

"Hai Mukuro-sama. Good bye." with a final hug and wave, Chrome headed off to board the plane to Japan with Lancia.

To ensure Chrome's safety, Mukuro sent her off to Namimori. This way, he can prepare for the destruction of the Estraneo without any risk of involving her by accident. In the original timeline, Chrome does not meet Tsuna until much later. However, Mukuro pointed out, Tsunayoshi-kun also did not have contact with his other guardians until after Reborn. So as long as they follow the general timeline, it should not matter if Chrome appears earlier than expected. Besides, as his guardians, they should get the privilege of being closer to their sky earlier.

…

Fran, on the other hand, was passed to the Varia.

"Shishou, this is child labour."  
"Kufufu… Xanxus, I'll leave this troublesome child to you."

"Trash. When you said you wanted the frog brat transferred to the Varia, I thought you were joking. You actually kidnapped the brat." Xanxus was impressed.

"VOOOIII If that brat had memories, you would be fried."

"That was quite a gamble you made." Mammon floated onto Fran's head.

"Kufufufu…" Mukuro shrugged. "So Sawada Tsunayoshi truly does not have any memories?"

"Ushishishi, Mammon checked with his thoughtography."

"I'll try again if you pay me."

Mukuro shook his head. "Kufufu… I shall take my leave then. I'll come back for the little one later."

"Take your time, Shishou." Take your long, sweet time.

Mukuro stabbed Fran with his trident.

* * *

Bermuda shook his head at the bodies on the floor. "… Did you have to knock out half of my Vindice, Mukuro-kun?"

"Kufufufufu… that was revenge for last time." Mukuro materialized in front of Bermuda. It was considerably easy to defeat the Vindice after Tsuna demonstrated it in the past. All Mukuro needed to do was to tire and exhaust their flames.

Jager instantly prepared himself but Bermuda held him back. "He is my guest." He floated off of Jager's shoulder and onto Mukuro's. "If Tsunayoshi-kun remembered, he would not be happy."

"Kufufu… it's his fault that he doesn't remember."

Bermuda sighed as he shook his head. "Childish."

"Oya oya, are you picking a fight, Arcobaleno?"

"Mukuro-kun. Shall we get started on what you came for?" Bermuda steered Mukuro into a private room before he riled Jager up too much.

…

Mukuro wiped Estraeno out again, though this time with the Vindice. In exchange, Vindice let Mukuro borrow M.M., Birds and the bloody twins later. Mukuro needed them to 'follow the original timeline' after all. Birds was also his 'peace offering' to the Skylark.

* * *

"Shishou, I told you to take your time."

"Kufufufufufu"

"Hurry up, byon." Ken dragged Fran out the door.

"Ken… don't be so rough." Chikusa sighed.

Lancia just shook his head at the scene.

"Kufufu… Xanxus, I am taking Fran back."

Xanxus shooed them off.

…

"Shishou, this is a crime."

"Kufufufu… don't worry about it, little one."

"Shishou, Decimo would punish you for this."

"Kufufu… he does not remember."

"So you are doing this because he doesn't remember?" Fran just shook his head and gave a slight sigh. "Shishou, have you heard of karma? I'm sure that you will encounter it someday."

After Fran rejoined the Kokuyo, Mukuro took himself, Fran, Ken, Chikusa and Lancia 'hell ring hunting'. Of course, since the hell rings already had owners, Mukuro had to separate them from the rings first. This caused two things. First, a bloody mess. Second, it gave Mukuro a name in the Mafia world.

…

"Shishou… how many rings do you want?" Fran tossed his 666 ring in the air before catching it again.

"Kufufufu… this would be the last. I will not go after the ring of Checkerface." Mukuro put his third hell ring on. They had actually found all 5, sans Kawahira's, but Mukuro decided to leave the Ossa Impressione behind as a 'gift' for the Skylark. Plus, he found the ring unsuitable for him. Being a skeletal swordsman was too brutish for Mukuro's liking.

* * *

Mukuro spent the rest of his time in Italy 'correcting' the Mafia world. He took commissions from anyone who was willing to pay. Though in all technicalities, Mukuro did not 'work' for the people who hired him. He was willing to betray them in a heartbeat on whim.

…

Lancia sighed. "Mukuro, you are starting to go too far. I know that the Vindice agreed to not go after you, but that doesn't mean that Vongola won't. You still want to meet Sawada Tsunayoshi don't you?"

Mukuro looked up from his bloody carnage. "Kufufu… indeed. I do want to meet Sawada Tsunayoshi." He placed the body in his hands onto the floor and walked towards Lancia. "I wonder how the Skylark is faring with him. Kufufu… I do want to see how strong he is. Lancia-senpai, do you think that Sawada Tsunayoshi would still be strong enough to accept everything?" Mukuro gestured the bloody room. "Would he be able to be the sky that accepts all, no matter how bloody they are?"

Lancia patted Mukuro on the head. "Of course he will. He did it once, so he will be able to do it again. Besides, he grew up with Hibari-san. He should be used to seeing blood by now."

"Kufufufufu… indeed." Mukuro closed his eyes. "I need a break… I'll go talk to Chrome when we get back… How much longer is it, till we can go to Namimori?"

"Another year…" Lancia mumbled. "Just wait another year…"

...

In the end, they only needed to wait for half.

* * *

**Vivid x Dreams:** Thank you for the review~ the illusion around tomiko was the illusion of invisibility. her normal appearance is the one with the bangs and mask.

**Glassed Loner:** Tsuna defeated Xanxus by entering Hyper mode. 'Toku-nee' was derived from Tomiko when Tsuna was 4. 'Tomiko' became 'Toko' which became 'Toku'... or something like that. 'Toku' can also mean 'great' so i guess that's also part of the reason. both questions will be addressed in more detail later on in the story.


	27. PA -12- DOKURO CHROME

_Tsuna:10_

Lancia and Chrome got off the bus and turned to look at Namimori from the top of the hill.

"So… where first?" Lancia asked Chrome.

"Cloud-san…"

Lancia nodded. "Namimori… elementary?"

"Yes… but I don't know where it is…"

Suddenly, a yellow bird flew past them, singing "Hibari, Hibari"

"…was that Hibari-san's bird?"

"I… remember it being a little bit different." Chrome was puzzled at the different hairstyle of the bird.

"Let's follow it."

The two of them hurried after the bird, who was leisurely flying slowly. The bird stopped at the base of the hill and dove to a girl's shoulder who was standing at the bottom.

"Ano…" Chrome began, feeling oddly at ease talking to this stranger. "That bird…"

The girl turned. "This bird? It's mine."

"Ah… um…" Chrome was unsure of what to say.

"Where did you get that bird? I think I know someone who has a similar bird." Lancia interjected for Chrome.

"Hmm? This bird has always been mine. Are you looking for someone, by chance?"

"Yeah, err. Do you know Hibari Kyoya-san?" Lancia decided to try.

"Oh are you friends of Kyoya? Wait, I'll call him for you." The girl took out a cell phone. Chrome was quite surprised at this response. It was to be expected everyone in this area would know of Hibari Kyoya, but for this girl to be able to contact him is quite amazing. Lancia was not aware of those facts and did not see the significance of this girl.

"Kyoya, there are two of your friends here. Uh, base of the mountain with the bus stop, west side." after a brief moment, she shut her phone. "He will be here soon" She presumably smiled at them under the mask. "Oh, I should introduce myself. I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you."

Chrome's eyes were the size of saucers. Lancia did not notice her shock. "I am Lancia and this is Dokuro Chrome. Pleased to meet you too. I wasn't aware that Hibari-san had a relative living here."

Tomiko scratched her face, "yeah… I am adopted, so…"

"Ah. My apologizes." Lancia sympathized, he knew all too well the feeling of losing family.

"No, it's alright. It was a while ago…" Tomiko stopped when she spotted Kyoya. She gave a wave. "Kyoya! These are your friends right?"

Kyoya blinked once and looked Chrome and Lancia over, unsure how to respond. "Hn…"

"Then let's bring them home so you guys can talk." Tomiko animatedly but gently pulled Chrome's arm. Chrome let herself be dragged to the Hibari residence, with Lancia and Kyoya trailing from behind. Kyoya ended up carrying Chrome's luggage.

"Kyoya only has male friends. It's nice to finally meet a female friend." Tomiko babbled on. Chrome nodded in understanding. It was nice to see another female.

* * *

Tomiko deposited Chrome on the sofa after reaching the Hibari residence. "I need to go shopping and then make dinner. Do you have any requests?"

Chrome gently shook her head, as did Lancia. Kyoya gave a grunt.

"Ok, it will be a surprise then." She walked over to the door. "I'll be back later, take your time." With that, she left.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Err… Hibari Tomiko-san is…?" Lancia nervously asked.

Kyoya shot him a glare but quickly looked away. "I forced her to stay." He refused to speak any further.

Lancia gave a slow nod. Mukuro had basically completely altered his childhood. Lancia had nothing to say about Kyoya's minor change.

There was another moment of awkward silence.

"Ano… Mukuro-sama told me to transfer here… and prepare Kokuyo…" Chrome started, straight to the point. After living with Cloud-san for many years, she was not fearful of him and knew how he hated it when people did not speak straight to the point. She slightly pitied Lancia for not having the same experience and knowledge.

Kyoya nodded, indicating that he would take care of the transfer for her. She nodded back, thanking him.

"And… I was thinking of living near Kokuyo until…" Chrome trailed off as Kyoya's aura suddenly grew in remembrance of the attack on Namichu by the pineapple herbivore. However, even so, Kyoya gave a nod, indicating that he would help them find a suitable place to stay.

Lancia, having little experience with Hibari Kyoya, missed most of the non-verbal communication, only feeling the sudden change in aura. He decided to interject to 'save' Chrome.

"Is it true that Sawada-san has no memories?"

Kyoya gave a clear nod.

"How about his abilities? Does he have those?"

"… we are training the herbivore. His flames are sealed…" Kyoya looked annoyed.

"Cloud-san, Rain-san and Sun-san?" Chrome asked, wondering how many people were in the area right now.

"And Irie." Kyoya paused. "Tomiko as well…"

Chrome nodded in understanding while Lancia looked confused.

"Hibari Tomiko-san? She knows?"

"Ano…" Chrome quickly interjected "Hibari-chan is like an elder sister figure, right?" She received a nod from Kyoya.

Seeing no further pending issues, Kyoya got up to gather the papers for Chrome's transfer and for property near Kokuyo. Chrome did not react, having guessed what he was planning to do, and silently convinced the confused Lancia to just keep seated and relax. When Kyoya was out of sight and far enough on radar, she explained his actions and intentions to Lancia.

…

Chrome had developed a sensing ability before being reborn. While it was no way in par with hyper intuition as a whole, it was very detailed within a certain range. As an illusionist, it was a huge asset. She was able to sense the emotions of her opponent with pinpoint accuracy, though she was unable to predict their intentions and future movements outside of the obvious cues from their emotions.

This sensing ability had made her secretly feared amongst her illusionist peers, as while she could not produce large and elaborate illusions, she was able to open her opponent's heart and slowly drive them into insanity. Mukuro was famed for his flashy and gory illusions that were able to drive people insane within minutes. However, there was a chance for the victims to recover from the insanity, albeit with years of first class intensive therapy. Chrome's however, was a different story. While it took longer to take effect, it was much more deadly. Simply put, it was impossible to ever recover from insanity after Chrome was finished. More accurately, it was impossible to recover once she was past half-way finished. Chrome's insanity was fueled by the victim itself, so once she decided to target them, they were pretty much done.

To put it in comparison, if illusions were a fruit, all four illusionists have different ways of feeding the fruit to the victim. Mukuro would force feed the fruit into the victim's mouth. Fran would trick the victim into thinking the fruit was something else, making the victim willingly consume the fruit at his own will. Mammon would control the victim's actions until he involuntarily consumes the fruit. Chrome would plant the seed within the victim and wait for the fruit to sprout from within him.

This fact was not renown though. In fact, aside from Mukuro, Fran and Mammon, only Sawada Tsunayoshi comprehended the full power of her sensing ability. Ken and Chikusa were aware as well, but did not understand as they were not illusionists themselves. Tsuna, knowing about Chromes reluctance to drive people insane, made her as his delegate during meetings or other gatherings when necessary. She wholeheartedly agreed. The only weakness of that, though, was the fact that she could not sense lies, only the tell-tale signs of lies. Knowing this fact, she knew better than to make major decisions in his name.

* * *

Tomiko returned after an hour. By then, Kyoya had almost completed the transfer documents while Chrome and Lancia were browsing for property. After a brief greeting, Tomiko went straight to the kitchen, saying it was her day to cook.

"Ano…" Chrome received Kyoya's attention. "How long has Hibari-chan been living with you?"

Kyoya paused for a moment, seemingly counting the years. "…4. Almost 5." He looked slightly surprised at that fact.

Chrome mirrored his surprise. While they did live together with all the other guardians in the mansion, Cloud-san had, true to his nature, avoided everyone as much as he could. The people who he spent the most time with were Bossu and Mukuro-sama, the latter due to the fact that Mukuro-sama found enjoyment in annoying the other which would inevitably lead to a spar and destruction of some property. Then Bossu would sentence them to some form of detention.

Sun-san also forcefully spent some time with Cloud-san, though it usually consisted of the former constantly shouting while the latter would ignore him and eventually throwing him out when he was reaching breaking point.

After Bossu, his relationship with Rain-san was the best. They would occasionally spar in the training rooms and Cloud-san seems to be able to tolerate Rain-san, even with Rain-san's constant smiling and chatter.

Strangely enough, Cloud-san was also tolerant of Storm-san even though their conversations usually consisted of Storm-san yelling at Cloud-san at something which would sometimes lead to praise about Bossu.

Chrome did not remember any significant conversations that she and Cloud-san had together. Whenever they were left together by chance, both of them would stay silent the whole time. There was a mutual understanding and respect between the two though. Chrome would occasionally act as Cloud-san's delegate for his foundation at Bossu's request, which Cloud-san showed appreciation to. Cloud-san, in turn, would accompany Chrome as a bodyguard whenever Bossu has a bad feeling about a particular meeting he could not attend.

Cloud-san's relationship with Lambo was the most bizarre. While they would usually avoid each other on a regular basis, whenever Lambo was particularly terrified or in danger and Bossu or Storm-san was not around, he would call for his "Hibari-nii" before anyone else. Cloud-san would then inevitably show up within minutes and Lambo would instantly calm down.

The fact that he was able to live with someone, without avoiding or ignoring them, for so long was amazing. The fact that he had actively taken part in making someone stay was a miracle. Chrome was becoming very curious as to what this Hibari-chan was like.

* * *

Lancia left for Italy the next day. He was very worried about what Mukuro might get himself into when left alone plus it seemed like Chrome was going to be just fine in Namimori. Chrome had been invited to stay at the Hibari Residence until her home's purchase has been finalized. She would go to Namisho starting next week.

On his way to the bus stop, Lancia passed by the 3 criminal brothers. Luckily, his terrifying looks deterred them from pickpocketing, extorting or swindling him. In hindsight, the 3 brothers would have had a much better fate if they targeted Lancia instead.

…

After some brief research, the 3 brothers quickly found out that the Hibaris were the wealthiest in Namimori, owning two large houses. They decided to target the main Hibari Residence, as it second location was too troublesome to survey. Had the brothers dug any deeper, they would have steered clear from that area.

Aside from who the owner of the house was, the Hibari Residence was actually the ideal place to steal from. No one would approach that area even if they were being chased by a terrifying monster. And the only inhabitants of the house were a few kids. It was as if the house was begging to be robbed from.

The 3 brothers spied on the house to get a grasp of the surroundings. A few hours later, they noticed a girl with purple hair exit the house and head to the shopping district.

"Ichiro, that must be Hibari Tomiko." Jiro nudged his brother.

Ichiro adjusted his glasses. "Let's follow her."

…

Chrome had left the house to go grocery shopping. Both Hibaris were at school at this time and Chrome, being bored, volunteered to go to the shopping district to buy ingredients for dinner.

She noticed the 3 suspicious people the moment she left the house. She didn't even need her sensing ability to notice them. The 3 brothers, heavily underestimating her due to her age, had barely bothered to try to conceal themselves.

Chrome had her fair share of suspicious people in the past. Luckily, these 3 did not compare to them one bit. She instantly slammed her trident onto the floor and casted a decoy illusion around herself. While this was Fran's specialty and not Chrome's, she could still do it well enough to fool regular people.

…

Saburo rubbed his eyes. "Brothers… did the girl just suddenly shift?"

They gave him an annoyed glance. "No, you're just seeing things. Now go."

Shrugging, Saburo casually walked up to the girl and pickpocketed air. Looking at his hands and the girl in confusion, he hurried his pace and tried a few more times but kept missing for some reason.

Jiro sighed and pulled Saburo aside. "I'll go." he produced a huge expensive looking vase and walked towards the girl, waiting to crash into her. Feeling nothing, he quickened his pace till he began running. In the end, he never managed to crash into her. The vase broke on its own.

Ichiro sighed. "Amateurs. I'll show you how the pro does it." He followed Chrome all the way back to the Hibari Residence and knocked on the gate seconds after. The girl meekly opened the door after checking that no one else was home.

Ichiro then began his long speech in attempt to enter the house. Chrome knew exactly what was going on, having clearly felt this 'salesperson's' intentions. However, she endured the speech, not ridding him with any illusions. She waited for her to appear and save her. She wasn't disappointed.

Moments later, Tomiko appeared and began to counter Ichiro's speech, cornering him into silence.

…

Chrome had finished shopping while the brothers dealt with her decoy. Part way, she sensed Kyoya and Tomiko enter her range and dealt with the brothers.

The 3 brothers had almost triggered every warning system Shoichi set around the Hibari Residence. So while Shoichi was busily trying to turn every alarm off from his lab, Tomiko dragged Kyoya to the shopping district to save Chrome. Preoccupied with preventing Kyoya to bite the herbivores too far, Tomiko did not realize she had entered Chrome's range until it was too late. Tomiko had not bothered to guard her emotions or thoughts, having planned to stay hidden from Chrome. As a result, Chrome felt every emotion coming from Tomiko as clear as the day.

It was obvious who Tomiko was. Chrome has never felt someone else who could change between such a wide range of emotions as quickly as Bossu. Tomiko, evidently, followed the same pattern of emotions. And so Chrome waited for Tomiko to show herself and confirm it, knowing that Bossu would come save her no matter what.

As for Tomiko, she gave up hiding it from Chrome. It was pointless now that Chrome knew, as her Hyper Intuition told her. Sighing inwardly, she took her frustration out on the salesperson. Had Tomiko recognized the brothers as the people who terrorized Sawada Nana in the past, she would have shattered the last of their pride.

After Tomiko was done, Kyoya bit the last herbivore to death.

Shoichi also got involved, annoyed that he had to reset almost every alarm. At least he was comforted with the fact that his security system worked. The 3 brothers were scarred for life, never setting foot anywhere near Namimori again.

Tomiko sighed as she turned to Chrome, who was patiently waiting for her.

"…Chrome, shall we talk inside?"

The two of them entered the Hibari Residence.

…

After they sat down, Tomiko removed her mask and unpinned her bangs. They fell into a familiar position over her eyes.

Chrome reached forward and cupped Tomiko's face into her hand, tears forming in her eyes. "…Bossu."

Tomiko rested her hand on top of Chrome's. "It is Sawada Tsunayoshi who will become Vongola Decimo. I am merely a figure from the past."

Chrome shook her head. "I… will not be the Mist Guardian of Vongola this time then. Mukuro-sama is old enough to take on the position alone." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "May I please stay with you and serve you once again?"

Tomiko could not say no.

After all, her biggest 'fault' would be that she loves her family too much.

…

"Cloud-san."

Kyoya looked up from his paperwork.

Chrome slid her passport in front of her. She never gone through the proper citizenship and identity procedures so Mukuro had gotten her a fake one through connections. "I… will stop being 'Dokuro Chrome'."

"Hn?" Why?

"I will not be the Mist Guardian of Sawada. I will serve Tomiko-sama. And… I need to hide from Reborn-san." Chrome needed the new identity to move around more easily and by changing her name, she would have symbolically separated herself from Sawada Tsunayoshi and bounded herself to Hibari Tomiko.

Chrome looked at him curiously. "You agreed to be the Cloud Guardian of Sawada?"

Kyoya gave her a very irritated grunt.

Chrome nodded. "Ano… please destroy all my records as 'Dokuro Chrome'… Sorry… you'll have to redo the forms…"

"Name."

"Ano… 'Kurodo Vermei'." She wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

Kyoya got up and went to work. Unlike the pineapple herbivore, Kyoya thoroughly took 'Kurodo Vermei' through the proper citizenship procedures and (semi-)legally, using a lot of force, obtained proper identification for her.

**For her true sky, Dokuro Chrome will sacrifice her identity.**

* * *

_Tsuna:12_

Chrome opened her eyes and found herself in a grassy field. She glanced around. "Mukuro-sama?"

"Kufufu…" Mukuro slowly walked into view. "My dear Chrome, how have you been?"

"Fine, Mukuro-sama. We are preparing for Reborn-san's arrival." She paused, taking in Mukuro's emotions. "Ano… Mukuro-sama, are you alright?"

Mukuro sat on the grass, Chrome following him shortly. Mukuro gave a long sigh. "Kufufu… it appears that I will still be alright for a while. The hell rings are taking a toll on my sanity." Helaid flat on the grass. "How is Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

"Sawada… has just gone through a hard phase… but he is alright now. Cloud-san ensured it."

"Kufufu… I see. Chrome, is Sawada Tsunayoshi strong? Strong enough to accept everyone?"

"…" Chrome closed her eyes for a moment, sensing Mukuro's anxiety. "Mukuro-sama… it does not matter if Sawada is strong or not. Even if he does not accept everyone, there are many people who will accept you. Lancia, Ken, Chikusa, Fran and I will never push you away… and there is also Fuuta, Lambo, I-pin… and Cloud-san, Sun-san, Rain-san and Storm-san. And that's only within a part of the Vongola. I cannot speak for Sawada Tsunayoshi but I can speak for everyone else." She paused for a second. "Mukuro-sama, you will be alright… The sky… is always there… even if you cannot see it… even if it takes another form."

"Kufufufufu… indeed." Mukuro sat up and gave Chrome a genuine smile. "Thank you, my dear Chrome." He patted her head. "I will be alright now. Thank you."


	28. DA III -2- KOKUYO & VIPER

Tomiko sighed. "So our mental link transferred after all."

"Kufufufufufu…" Mukuro let go of Tomiko's chin. "Indeed." He rested his head on Tomiko's free shoulder. "I am truly pleased to see you again…"

Tomiko patted Mukuro's back. Chrome had informed her about Mukuro's shaky mental state and Tomiko was relieved to see that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. It seemed like reuniting with the other people who have memories helped stabilized Mukuro. It also helped that Kyoya forcefully knocked the rest of his sanity back into him.

Tomiko looked around the Hibari Residence. "…Mukuro, what were you doing?"

"…Kufufu…" Mukuro lifted his head from her shoulder and turned away.

Shaking her head slightly, Tomiko walked up to Kyoya, who was a giving her a hard 'get me out of here right now' look. She touched the tentacle, which burst into flames. Kyoya instantly jumped far away from the tentacles, dragging a confused Tomiko with him. She got her explanation seconds later.

Blinking at the regenerated tentacles, Tomiko turned to Mukuro for an explanation. "…Kufufu…" Mukuro pulled out his hell ring.

Tomiko face palmed. "Mukuro… isn't that a bit excessive?" She shook her head. She placed a hand on the barrier and with one continuous sweep of sky flames, temporarily destroyed all the tentacles, extinguishing the flames only after everyone was well away from the traps.

"Maa maa, Miko, are your unable to destroy the traps?" Takeshi asked, walking up to her, stretching his arms.

"…I might overpower my flame barrier." Tomiko turned to the huge metal box in the middle of the yard. "Shoichi. Does your machine work?"

Shoichi ran up to it and reconnected the device to the house. "It works." He pressed the correct button and successfully destroyed a trap. Everyone gave him a round of applause.

"Good. Shoichi, take down the barrier. Takeshi, Chrome, you two should go to school. Chrome, would you please inform Kyoko that Shoichi would not go to school today? I don't think he would make it in time." Vermei's role at school was parallel to Kusakabe's and Kyoko's. She was Tomiko's 'second-in-command' and acted as her stand-in at times. Like Tomiko, Vermei remained hidden from the general populace, though in a different way. Vermei was known as a regular student, her relationship with Tomiko being hidden from everyone except for the DC, SC and staff. Kyoya, in the mean time, had called Kusakabe to inform him of his intended absence.

"Haha… how do we get out?" Takeshi took out his sword, prepared to slice the barrier if necessary.

"Takeshi, it's fine." Tomiko cut a large hole in the barrier with her sky flames. "You're tired aren't you? Please keep Reborn away from this area if necessary. Though I doubt he would approach anyways…"

Takeshi laughed and nodded. He and Chrome exited the Hibari Residence while Shoichi got to work on the barrier.

"Now then… shall we talk inside?" Tomiko glanced around the barrier. "Mammon as well." Everyone turned to the direction she was focused on. "You can come out now… Mist Arcobaleno Viper."

Mammon grumbled as he descended into view. He had sensed the high quantity of mist flames being used and decided to survey the area, which led him to be another victim of Mukuro's incorrectly made barrier. He floated onto Tomiko's head.

"Kyoya, can you please get the box?" Tomiko asked as she led the group into the house.

Giving a grunt, Kyoya parted from the group.

…

"I am Hibari Tomiko… The 'Toku-nee' Tsuna has probably spoken of." She pulled off her mask and unpinned her bangs. "And as Mukuro had said… I was Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Shishou, it's the same face."

"Kufufufufufu… I can see that, little one." Mukuro once again lifted Tomiko's chin, examining her face in detail. His fingers graced over Tomiko's black hair and golden eyes. "Kufufu… your eyes and hair."

"Ah… my hair is dyed. My eyes are natural though. Unleashing the Tri-ni-sette caused me to lose some coloring in my eyes."

"Kufufu… I see." Mukuro pulled his hand back as Tomiko turned her head to the door, watching Kyoya slide the door open and closed. Kyoya took a seat next to her, away from the pineapple, and placed a metal box in front of Tomiko.

"Thank you." Tomiko laid a hand on the lid of the box.

"Hn." He handed her the key.

Tomiko unlocked the box. "Mukuro, Fran, Lancia, Ken, Chikusa and Mammon, would you keep me a secret?"

"Kufufufu… but of course. I can't let the Skylark have all the fun." Mukuro shared a short glaring contest with Kyoya.

"Me too." Fran agreed as well.

"I will as well." Lancia smiled at her.

Ken shrugged. "Sure, byon."

Chikusa nodded.

"…" Mammon pondered for a second. "Is this a threat?"

Tomiko shook her head. "It isn't."

Mammon nodded. If she said it wasn't a threat, it meant that he could potentially benefit from the deal. "Mu… Can I carry the same role as in the past?" Tsuna had hired Mammon as an accountant for the Vongola in the past. Mammon was given full access to the funds of both the Vongola and Tsuna's portion of the Varia. It was heaven on earth; to be paid to be surrounded in money. Needless to say, the constantly overjoyed Mammon did an excellent job.

Tomiko flipped the box opened. "Do you want to be the accountant for the Vongola, Varia or for my personal account?"

"Personal account?"

Pulling out a bank booklet from the box, Tomiko opened it to check if it was the one she wanted. She gave a small smile and handed the book to Mammon.

Mammon shrieked.

Everyone, sans Tomiko, jumped in their seat. They watched, in mixed amusement and shock, as the renowned Mist arcobaleno and Esper twirled in the air, hugging the bank booklet like it was a teddy bear. Mammon was so happy he couldn't even speak properly.

"Mammon-senpai became a ballerina…" Fran rubbed his eyes to check if it really wasn't an illusion.

"Kufufufufufufu… oya oya, it seems like Tomiko-chan was prepared."

"Wao. Charging the herbivores was worth it."

Tomiko smiled. Closing the box, she patted the top. "This box is under your care."

Mammon was too busy being happy to hear her. Not that it mattered; he would be begging her to give the box to him either way.

…

"Kufufufu… how much money do you have anyways?" Mukuro asked, after finally looking away from the spinning Mammon.

"Hn." Not much.

"Mammon-senpai thinks otherwise." Fran had never seen Mammon act like this in both lives.

Tomiko shrugged. "I've been saving up for the past… 6 years? Then there's the money from Shoichi's commissions… and funds from the Hibari Clan… We also have control over a part of the city's tax money…" She trailed off. "Well its nothing compared to Vongola."

"Decimo, no one would compare their savings to the Vongola." Fran deadpanned.

Tomiko shrugged. "Fran, don't call me Decimo. Sawada Tsunayoshi will be the one to lead Vongola next." She leaned back in her seat, anticipating the burst. She was not disappointed.

"Wait, wait what?" Lancia looked at Tomiko like she was out of her mind.

Chikusa was absolutely confused.

Ken jumped up. "How is that going to work, byon?"

Tomiko did not react. "How is it not going to work? He already has the ring."

Mammon floated in front of her and stared. "… I see. You planned this." Tomiko gave him no response. Mammon shrugged. "Well, it's none of my business."

"Mammon-senpai, you're going to keep it from Boss?"

Mammon turned to Fran and shrugged again. "I'm not getting paid to tell him." He flew to the metal box and began to examine its contents.

Fran turned to Mukuro and somewhat regretted it.

"…Kufufu… so all I need to do is eliminate this Sawada Tsunayoshi, don't I?"

"Mukuro, you're Tsuna's Mist Guardian." Tomiko reached towards Mukuro's neck and pulled the ring into view.

Mukuro directed his black aura to the ring, willing it to disintegrate. It didn't.

"Ah." Fran hit his palm with his fist. "So that's why Chrome-oneesan acted that way."

Mukuro looked at Fran, then at Tomiko. "Kufufufu… I see. Oya oya, it seems like Chrome was a few steps ahead of me." He calmed down. "Fine. I will humor you for now. Though," He lifted Tomiko's chin again. "I will not hesitate to possess your beloved Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tomiko chuckled slightly. "You won't be able to."

"Kufufu… we'll see about that." He let go of her face and turned to the Skylark. "Kufufu… I am surprised that Sawada Tsunayoshi is still alive though. The violent brute over there managed to not kill him."

"I find no pleasure in killing weak herbivore, unlike someone."

"Oya oya, your past records suggest otherwise, birdie."

"Hn. You were banned from certain types of missions because of the amount of paperwork you left behind."

"Kufufu… you were the same."

"Mukuro, Kyoya." Tomiko warned, eyes flashing orange as warning. Both boys turned away from each other. Tomiko gave a sigh, which the bird on her shoulder mirrored. "Well… I should go make lunch. I assume that all of you are staying." She stood up. "Mukuro, Kyoya, if you destroy anything…" She exited the room. Lancia followed her to help with the cooking.

Kyoya stood up and moved to leave the room as well, not wanting to be around a pineapple any longer than necessary.

"Birdie."

Kyoya paused.

"You are alright with that?"

"Hn." What do you think.

"Oya oya, I think you are acting more like a dog than the silver puppy." Mukuro dodged a tonfa.

"I obey no one."

"Kufufu… whatever you say." Mukuro straightened. "I assume that Yamamoto knows as well."

"Hn."

"And he's alright with this as well?"

Kyoya smirked. "The herbivore found out too late."

"Kufufu… you're finding pleasure out of this aren't you?" Mukuro shook his head. "Sadistic brute."

"Hn. The herbivores are finding more amusement out of this than I am. They even made a bet." Kyoya left before Mukuro could ask any further.

Mukuro sighed.

"Mukuro-sama… what will you do?" Chikusa asked carefully.

"You can just eliminate him if you want to, byon."

"Shishou, she might be angry at you for a while but she'll forgive you in the end." Fran knew that Tomiko would never be able to stay hostile at her beloved famiglia forever.

Mukuro shook his head slightly. "Kufufu… I will humor Tomiko-chan. This is her playground. I'll let her lead the way."

**For his true sky, Rokudo Mukuro will sacrifice his control.**

* * *

"Thank you for helping, Lancia."

Lancia shook his head as he set a plate onto the table. "There's no need to thank me. You've done enough already." He moved to set another plate. "I wasn't aware that you cooked though."

Tomiko gave a slight smile. "I was taught."

Lancia nodded. "Ah right. I should give this to you before I lose the chance to." He pulled out a familiar looking ring, though this one had a red stone rather than an orange one imbedded into it.

Tomiko slowly took the ring, looking at Lancia for an explanation.

"This is a ring from the Serpe Famiglia. The boss gave this one to me… it's not the same ring as last time though. This one should be a storm ring."

"Then shouldn't you keep it? The Don of the Serpe Famiglia took care of you didn't he?"

"Yeah…" Lancia shrugged. "Call it following the original timeline. Skies can use all the rings, right?"

Tomiko nodded. "Yes… but I prefer not to use other attributes…" As part of her training, Tomiko had been well versed how to use every single flame. However, it was not within her preferences to do so. "I think you should be the one to keep this one though." She attempted to hand the ring back to him.

Lancia shook his head. "I won't need it for a long time. Keep it safe for me, please?" He patted her head. "It would be much safer under your care, after all."

"... Alright."


	29. FA -2- VS Lal Mirch

Author's Note:

First i want to apologize. I intended to release another chapter from DA III before this one (DA III -3-), but i was stuck while writing parts of it...  
So i decided to just move on and release that chapter a little , now we enter the future arc

-1458

* * *

Tsuna woke up to cramp darkness and the smell of flowers.

…

He had been leisurely walking home from school, when suddenly this huge purple tube appeared out of nowhere and basically ate him. Oh, he must be inside the tube, Tsuna reasoned. He tried to push the sides of the tube. Funny, the tube should be round. Why did he feel like he was in a box?

Tsuna got his answer when he pushed the side above him. The lid of the box slid open slightly, revealing a crack of light. After readjusting to the light and exiting the box, he looked around, stunned.

He was in a coffin. He was in the woods somewhere. He had no idea where he was.

Tsuna forced himself to calm down and examine the situation. He woke up in an unknown location in the forest. He recalled the time many years ago when he was kidnapped but then rescued by Toku-nee, Hibari-niisan and Sol-nii. They had apparently found him in the forest. Perhaps this was a similar situation?

He looked at the coffin. There was a plain X engraved on the lid. …perhaps the kidnappers mistaken him as dead and put him in a coffin. What type of kidnapper would do that…

Tsuna was saved from his confusion when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned and saw Gokudera Hayato, except he looked older and was wearing a fancy suit.

Gokudera Hayato had no idea what was going on.

…

He had just parted ways with Juudaime and was heading home to call his mother, when suddenly the accursed bazooka appeared out of nowhere and sent him to the future.

Or rather, it sent his soul to the future.

When Hayato opened his eyes, he found himself in the forest and in his 10 years older body. He looked around, trying to identify his location. He vaguely recognized the area, but then again all trees looked the same in the first place.

In any case, he figured that walking forward would be the best next course of action, seeing how his body was positioned in a way that suggested he was walking forward before his younger soul invaded it.

It lead him to Juudaime… in a coffin.

The strangest sense of déjà vu washed over him.

"Ju-juudai…me?" He stuttered.

Tsuna blinked then smiled. "Gokudera-san! You look older for some reason." He looked around, "Where are we?"

Hayato, on the other hand, collapsed in front of the coffin. "Ju-juudaime…" He began to shed tears. Why was Juudaime in a coffin again… did he die in the future?

_"Follow the original timeline."_

Ah. Hayato had the epiphany. "Juudaime!" He grabbed Tsuna's shoulders. "I-"

In a sudden puff of pink smoke, Hayato found himself in his younger body.

He looked at himself in confusion.

"Gokudera-san! How did you suddenly turn younger again?"

Hayato blinked. "That damn cow's stupid bazooka…" He growled.

Tsuna tilt his head in confusion.

"Juudaime. We are in the future. To be specific, we are in the future 10 years later."

Hayato waited for Tsuna to absorb in the information.

"W-what? How do you even travel to the future?!"

"That stupid bazooka. Stupid cow, causing problems for everyone."

Seeing Hayato grumble, Tsuna figured that he did not need more information about this bazooka thing. So that tube was the bazooka…

"What's that?" Tsuna pointed to the suitcase beside Hayato.

Hayato pulled it in front of him and opened it. "It seems like my future self left it behind." Tsuna peered into the suitcase. Inside, there was a strange looking box with a hole on top, some papers with weird symbols and a picture of an older Irie Shoichi.

Tsuna picked up the picture. "Wow, Sol-nii looks so much older."

Hayato, on the other hand, picked up the papers. It was written in G-script, unsurprisingly.

"Juudaime, this is a letter my older self left for me. It says that Irie is part of some group called the 1000Flowers as commander #51. The 1000Flowers are an enemy of Vongola. We need to eliminate them."

Tsuna blinked and grabbed the letter in an attempt to read it. "There's no way Sol-nii will be my enemy! There must be a misunderstanding. Being the enemy of Vongola would also mean being the enemy of Hibari-niisan. There's no way Sol-nii would do such a thing."

Hayato was about to reply when suddenly a bullet flew between them.

* * *

Lal Mirch was very angry.

That was an understatement.

…

She had been walking out of the CEDEF HQ when Basil appeared out of nowhere and shot her.

How did Basil even managed to slip near her unnoticed?

She was going to kill that damn brat the next time she saw him.

Speaking of which, she had no idea where she was. It was a forest. And by studying the trees, she concluded that she was in a temperate forest. Which meant she was no longer in Italy.

That also meant that she was out long enough for the brat to leave her somewhere outside of Italy. That brat was going down.

Basil was somewhat saved by Hayato and Tsuna from any further rage.

Lal heard noises and leapt to the source. She found Gokudera Hayato with someone she did not recognize. He did bare some resemblance to that damn Iemitsu though. Speaking of which, she will kill him as well when she returns to CEDEF for good measures. The reason why she left HQ was because he was annoyingly going on and on about his wife after all. She suffered through it one lifetime. She did not want to go through it a second time.

In any case, she fired a bullet between the two to get their attention.

Gokudera Hayato was instantly on her. To his advantage, he was aware that it was most likely Lal Mirch he was up against, so he knew how to get her to stop.

"Lal Mirch! Stop attacking Juudaime!"

It worked instantly.

Lal landed in front of Tsuna. "… You mean this brat is him?"

"… Yeah."

Lal stared Tsuna up and down, looking intently at Tsuna's face. Tsuna sweat dropped as he was reminded of how Hayato and Colonnello had looked at him the same way when they first met.

Lal's appraisal ended with her disappointment. "Brat, you brats trained him right?"

"I was in Italy. Blame the Skylark, Turf-top and baseball freak." He did not want to invoke any rage from Lal right now.

She looked at Tsuna once again before shaking her head. She expected more from those brats.

Hayato pulled her aside and decided to clarify the situation with her. "We are in the future."

Lal looked at him, then at the coffin. Oh. "Follow the original timeline, eh?" She sighed and decided to play along.

"Brats, I am Lal Mirch. I will guide you back to your Vongola base."

* * *

After half a day and a full night of rest, they arrive at the general location in accordance to Lal's memory.

They were greeted by a Strau Mosca.

Tsuna stared at the robot. "W-WHAT IS THAT"

"Strau Mosca" Hayato answered like it was the most common thing in the world.

The robot suddenly shot something at them.

"W-WHY IS IT ATTACKING" Tsuna hurriedly dodged another shot.

"MAMMON CHAINS. WHERE ARE THE MAMMON CHAINS?!" Hayato screamed at Lal.

"BRAT, WHY WOULD I CARRY MAMMON CHAINS?!" Lal shouted back.

"YOU HAD THEM LAST TIME."

"I DON'T HAVE THEM THIS TIME. IF I DID, I WOULD HAVE KNOWN WHAT WAS GOING ON MUCH EARLIER, BRAT." Lal did not have a single box weapon or ring on her either. All she had was her pacifier and her shotgun.

They stopped arguing at the sound of Tsuna's cry.

Hayato pulled out some dynamite. (in the excitement, Hayato had forgotten he had a ring…)

"YOU IDIOT, DYNAMITE DON'T WORK ON STRAU MOSCA REMEMBER?!"

"IT'S BETTER THAN YOUR SHOTGUN"

They were saved by Takeshi, who took out the robot with one hit using a flame covered katana.

* * *

Takeshi was heading home from baseball practice when he was hit with the bazooka.

…

He woke up and found himself standing at the doorway of one of the entrances of the Vongola base, in his 10 years older body.

He laughed.

Takeshi was a bit confused, but unlike the other three, Takeshi quickly determined that Tomiko was probably responsible for this. She did want everyone to follow the original timeline after all.

And so, Takeshi laughed. He will do his best to follow the original timeline and assist Miko as much as he could.

He recalled that Tsuna, Hayato and Lal Mirch were to head to the base and that he was to guide them. So he headed out to look for the trio.

He heard shouting and laughed. Found them~

They were being attacked by a Strau Mosca. Takeshi looked at his equipment. He had his Shigure Kintoki and a C-grade rain ring given to him from Shoichi years ago. Takeshi shrugged. Good enough.

And so he sliced the Strau Mosca in half with his flame covered katana.

"Haha, yo~" Takeshi waved at the three.

"Takeshi! You look so much older!" Tsuna ran up to him and studied Takeshi's features. Takeshi laughed and patted Tsuna on the head.

"Maa maa, let's go to the base. You can look later." Takeshi received no protests.

* * *

When Reborn woke up, he was very annoyed.

The stupid bazooka managed to send him to the future again. The last time it happened, the world was about to be destroyed by some marshmallow freak with a god complex. He could only hope that this time was better.

Reborn found himself in the Vongola base and immediately kicked the first person he saw. That person happened to be Tsuna. Giannini was lucky.

"OW! Reborn! What was that for?!"

Reborn ignored Tsuna and focused on Takeshi.

"Haha, yo, kid." Takeshi waved. "Tsuna, you should get some rest. You must be very tired after running from that robot."

Tsuna gave a nod. "Um, sure. Where can I sleep?"

Takeshi pointed down the hall. "Third hall to your right then second room on your left." Tsuna walked off.

…

The four sat down.

Takeshi started. "Reborn, my younger soul is in my older body."

Reborn looked at him with a weird expression.

"Reborn-san, the baseball freak is telling the truth. When I arrived, I found myself in my older body. My younger body arrived after a few minutes."

"Maa maa, it's following the original timeline."

Reborn gave a slow nod and looked at Lal Mirch. "Lal, are feeling alright? You look like you're breathing heavily."

Lal blinked and realized that she was indeed breathing heavily. She shrugged. "Maybe the anti Tri-ni-sette radiation exists this time as well. I don't feel as bad as last time though."

"Reborn-san, does that mean you are stuck in the base again?" Hayato asked.

"…Ah. Seems like it." Follow the original timeline… it seems like he has no choice.

* * *

**Greeby:** My chapter titles are by chronological order. When i release DA III -3-, it will be directly connected to DA III -2- and will probably make more sense if read in that order.


	30. FA -4- VS Kyoya

"Dame-Tsuna, due to some radiation problems that only affect the arcobaleno, I have to stay in the base."

"Arco-wha?"

Tsuna was kicked. "Arcobaleno. The world's stronger babies."

"Oh, like Colonnello and Skull? …There's even more of you?"

He was kicked again. "Dame-Tsuna, just go gather your guardians."

"Eh, ok. Um… we are in Namimori right?"

Takeshi nodded. "Yup."

"Then… let's start with Hibari-niisan. If it's Namimori, there's only a couple of places he will be."

"Maa maa, the city looks different 10 years later… but we can try."

Tsuna nodded. "Maybe we can find Toku-nee as well."

He, Takeshi and Hayato left the base in search for Kyoya.

…

They wandered the ruined area of the city. The 1000Flowers sure did a lot of damage. Tsuna looked at the trashed buildings and wondered briefly how much percentage of the destruction was caused by the guardians as well...

Hayato and Takeshi discretely led Tsuna to the next 'checkpoint'. They weren't disappointed.

There was a loud crash.

The trio hurried over and were met with the older Lambo, I-pin, Haru and Kyoko being chased by two scythe people wearing red fire fueled rocket boots.

Tsuna stared at the boots for a few seconds before remembering he needed to help the group being chased.

* * *

Lambo and I-pin were very confused.

They were too young when they were sent into the future in the original timeline to remember how everything worked. All they remembered was that they needed rings and boxes. Between them, all they had was Lambo's C-graded lightning ring. They weren't able to use it though.

…

When they woke up, they realized they were being chased with Haru and Kyoko. They had no idea who was chasing them and why they were doing so. In panic, they did the first thing they could think of: destroy their surroundings.

Ten years later, they would learn that the reason why they were being chased was because Lambo accidentally squirted ketchup all over Nosaru when the four of them stopped to eat lunch. The two 1000Flower members had been walking by when I-pin and Lambo began to argue over which condiments were the best on a hotdog. The argument escalated and they began to chase each other around. Lambo tripped over a ketchup bottle and it exploded all over the innocent passerby. The victim was further humiliated by having his picture taken by Haru, who called it 'inspirational'.

In any case, when the younger Lambo and I-pin entered the body of the older ones, they decided to clear whatever was in their immediate path.

Both Lambo and I-pin attacked the abandoned building in front of them.

And that was the state in which Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi found them.

"STUPID COW? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Hayato yelled over the damage.

Lambo recognized the voice and ran towards it. "GOKUDERA-SHIIIIII"

Suddenly, in a puff of pink smoke, Takeshi, Lambo, I-pin, Haru and Kyoko turned younger.

There was a brief moment of silence.

Hayato broke it. "Juudaime! Take care of the stupid cow and the girls. We will deal with the enemies." He ran towards one of them as Takeshi copied. Tsuna complied and led everyone else to a building to hide.

"Aniki… they just turned younger."

"…yeah… whatever. Attack the older guys in place of that cow brat."

"Takeshi! You take the small one, I'll take the big one."

"Eh, but Hayato, how are you going to attack? I thought you couldn't find the box weapon."

"Idiot! Why would I need the box when I have this" Hayato pulled out the Vongola ring.

Takeshi looked at it and laughed. "Haha, oh right! I forgot about that." He pulled out his own ring.

Nosaru and Tazaru were soon beaten by storm flame covered dynamite and rain flame covered bamboo sword.

…

Everyone returned to the base after the excitement.

…

Later that night, Giannini led a crash course on rings and box weapons.

The system this time was basically the same as the one they remembered.

"Juudaime, why don't you try to open the box that was in the suitcase?" Hayato handed Tsuna the box.

Tsuna lit the ring and stuffed it into the box. It opened, revealing a piece of paper. Tsuna rotated the paper. "…Is this… Colonnello?"

Lal Mirch took the paper from him. It was indeed a drawing of Colonnello. She flipped it around and read the back. After 30 seconds, she was beet red. Fuming, she stormed out of the room.

"…?" Tsuna turned to Reborn, who was snickering.

"Dame-Tsuna, you are too young to understand." Tsuna wisely chose to hold in his retort.

"Lal will begin to train you tomorrow morning. You can look for the rest of your guardians after that."

* * *

Hibari Kyoya was always known for flashy entrances.

Apparently he altered the communication system to reflect that.

Lal was training Tsuna, with Reborn, Hayato and Takeshi watching when suddenly they heard the Namichu Anthem sung by Hibird blast throughout the base. When the song ended, they heard Hibird chirping "Herbivore, Herbivore, Shrine, Shrine . Hurry or be bitten to death, to death." Life would have been so much better if Hibird had a lower vocal range. And if the mike wasn't amplified.

After their ears stopped ringing, Tsuna, Takeshi and a pissed off Hayato exited the base for Namimori Shrine.

…

When they reached Namimori Shrine, they did not see Kyoya. The trio looked around for him. Or rather, Tsuna looked for Kyoya while Takeshi and Hayato were looking for a certain blond. Tsuna spotted Gamma first.

"Oh, there's a person over there." Tsuna walked towards that person.

"Ah wait, Tsuna!" Takeshi pulled Tsuna back. "Don't talk to strangers."

Tsuna sweat dropped. "Takeshi, I'm not a child. Besides, that person might know where Hibari-niisan is."

"Juudaime, why don't we look around the whole area first? That Skylark might be hiding."

"Why would Hibari-niisan hide?"

"Maa maa, Hibari doesn't like crowds right?"

The two of them failed to convince Tsuna.

During the commotion, Gamma noticed the trio. He looked at the light brown prickly haired boy. He was sure he has seen him somewhere recently. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a wanted poster. After comparing faces, Gamma knew he had the right man.

"Vongola Decimo… prepare yourself. #100 wants you captured."

That was the only warning he gave before attacking the trio. "Widget, Colulu."

And would have succeeded if he didn't wake Hibari Kyoya from his nap.

"… For disturbing peace, I will bite you to death."

It didn't even last 5 seconds.

…

"Hibari-niisan!" Tsuna ran up to him. He was hit on the head with a tonfa.

"Herbivore. For being late, I will bite you to death."

"W-wait!" Tsuna flailed. "We were here a while ago but couldn't find you."

"…Hn…"

"Where's Toku-nee?"

Kyoya picked up the paper Gamma had and shrugged.

"W-what? You don't know where Toku-nee is?" Tsuna began to freak out.

"Herbivore. Worry about yourself. Tomiko is strong. She will be fine." He flipped the paper around to show the trio. "You are weak. Do not think herbivorous thoughts until you grow stronger."

Hayato snatched the paper from Kyoya after seeing the photo. "Juudaime! You are being hunted. We should go back to the base right away."

"B-but… Toku-nee"

"Maa maa, Tsuna, Miko-senpai will be fine. She has always hid herself, there's no way she would end up in much trouble."

"Herbivores." Kyoya walked towards the shrine. The rest of them followed. They entered Kyoya's part of the base.

"This will be the last time you enter this area." He opened the door that connects his part to the rest of the base.

Tsuna nodded, fully aware that actively seeking and entering Kyoya's personal space was on the reasons-to-be-bitten list.

…

"Baby."

"Hibari. Where were you?"

"Germany. Tetsu." Kusakabe Tetsuya appeared.

"Kyo-san. Reborn-san." He handed Reborn a file on the 1000Flowers.

"…1000Flowers…" Millefiore.

"1000Flowers? Is it a gang?" Tsuna paused, "… They are not part of the family right…?"

"There's no way that marshmallow bastard is family." Hayato growled.

Tsuna blinked. "M-marshmallow?" First pineapple, then meat and now marshmallow?

"Decimo! Bianchi and Fuuta have arrived." Giannini ran in and showed them the security footage.

* * *

Bianchi opened her eyes and came face to face with an older Fuuta.

"Bianchi-nee…" Fuuta looked around. They were on the bus.

"Fuuta… why do you look older?"

"I think we are in the future. 'Follow the original timeline.' after all…"

Bianchi looked outside. "So we are going to the base…"

They saved their questions for later.

…

"The entrance of the Merone base should be in the underground shopping mall." Bianchi 'reported'.

"… I see. Dame-Tsuna, concentrate on training until the rest of your guardians appear. Hibari will direct your training."

"I will take care of the girls…" Bianchi said. Reborn nodded.

"Kyo-san would like the help of Fuuta." Kusakabe spoke up, after a glance from Kyoya.

Fuuta nodded. "I'll be staying in Kyoya-niisan's wing then?"

"Hn." Kyoya turned to Tsuna. "Herbivore, tomorrow at 3 in underground training room A." He left with Fuuta and Kusakabe trailing.

...

"Herbivore." Kyoya pulled out a D-graded ring and a cloud box. "I will pry out all of your abilities." With that, he opened the box.

Knowing what to expect, Reborn instantly shot Tsuna with the dying will bullet. Tsuna entered Hyper mode and attempted to defend himself from the hedgehog.

It goes without saying that Kyoya overpowered Tsuna easily.

…

Tsuna found himself trapped in the hedgehog sphere.

"You're using the same method?" Lal asked.

"Hn." Kyoya walked up to the sphere. "Sawada Tsunayoshi. If you do not grow stronger, you will die." He walked away and leaned against the wall. Hibird flew onto his shoulder. Kyoya promptly fell asleep.

"… ahaha… this will take a while, won't it?" Takeshi laughed and sat on the ground, also leaning against the wall. Hayato said nothing, moving to a wall as well but staring intently back and forth between the sphere and his watch. Following the suit, Lal also moved against the wall with Reborn.

They waited.

And waited.

Hayato began pacing around the room non-stop. Takeshi was playing with his rain flames. Reborn and Lal were both polishing their guns. Kyoya was still asleep. Hibird had moved onto Kyoya's head.

Suddenly, the hedgehog sphere began to glow.

Everyone turned their attention to it. Tsuna destroyed the hedgehog sphere with a huge burst of high purity sky flames. He was breathing deeply and his eyes were closed.

Kyoya narrowed his eyes. "Herbivore."

Tsuna snapped his eyes open and looked at Kyoya. His eyes were a lighter shade of brown.

Kyoya closed his eyes for a second a took a deep breath. The moment he reopened his eyes, he lunged straight at Tsuna.

Tsuna instantly used a large burst of high purity sky flames to travel to the other side of the room. Just as he was about to crash into the wall, he blasted another burst of high purity sky flames in the opposite direction, stopping him.

Kyoya glared at Tsuna. "Enough."

Tsuna instantly obeyed, flames dispersing steadied himself on the floor. He stumbled due to lack of oxygen. Hayato was instantly next to him, holding him up.

"Herbivore. We will continue tomorrow." Kyoya turned to leave. "Baby, from this point on, do not interfere."

Reborn pulled down his fedora. "…Alright." That was Kyoya speak for 'stay away from the training room'.

Kyoya gave one last glare at the room before exiting, door closing behind him.

"Tsuna, let's take you to your room." Takeshi slung one of Tsuna's arms around his shoulder as Hayato mirrored the action.

Tsuna gave a weak nod. They slowly took him to his room.

"Juudaime, I'll get you some water." Hayato placed a blanket over Tsuna.

"Tsuna, I need to go check something. Hayato will take care of you." Takeshi turned towards the door.

"Baseball freak, I do not need you to tell me to take care of Juudaime." Hayato snapped back.

Takeshi took a deep breath then smiled. "Ahaha, I'm counting on you then, Hayato." He left the room.


	31. DA III -3- VARIA

"…And why are you three here again?" Tomiko sighed in exasperation, slightly thankful that Kyoya had long left for early morning patrolling.

"Metal box." Mammon landed on top of Tomiko's head.

"I'm bored." Fran stated.

"Kufufufufu… it's much more entertaining to be here."

Tomiko sighed again. "I need to go to school today. There is some paperwork that I need to do."

"Kufufu… We'll go with you."

"…Fine. Don't destroy anything or provoke Kyoya though."

"Kufufufu"

…

Tomiko led the three mists to Namichu.

"Hime-sama." One of the DC members walked up to her with a bow. He looked fearfully at the blue pineapple. "Excuse me, Hime-sama, but are these people… your guests?" He glanced at the blue pineapple once again.

"Yes… Kyoya knows. Do not worry." Tomiko inwardly sighed. So Kyoya's orders were still in effect.

The DC member excused himself with another bow and the four of them moved onwards. They were stopped by yet another DC member.

"Hime-sama." Tomiko received another bow. "About that blue pine-"

Tomiko raised her hand to silence him. "Yes. I am aware. Kyoya knows."

The incident repeated a few more times with other DC members, students and staff. Thankfully for Tomiko, Mukuro was too amused at the whole situation to get revenge on anyone for being labelled as a 'blue pineapple'.

…

Tomiko took a seat at her desk, gesturing the other three to sit wherever they wanted. She was alone in the DC office. Kyoya was patrolling and Shoichi was in his main lab preparing for what was to come. A blue canary, a plain black canary and a green canary flew off her and onto the desk. The yellow canary remained on her shoulder.

Mukuro walked up to her desk. "Kufufu… Hime-sama?" He asked, amused.

Tomiko scratched her face. "Long story." She picked up a document and gave an annoyed aura.

"Miko-hime, what's that?" Fran joined his Shishou.

"…Miko-hime…?" Tomiko sweat dropped.

Fran shrugged. "Miko-hime is more princess-like than that fake prince." Not self-proclaimed.

"…I see." She flipped to the next page of the document and sighed. "There's this Yakuza group in a neighbouring city called the Jinshintou Gumi who is trying to expand into Namimori." She turned to the next page and sighed once more. "Kyoya will throw a fit…"

"Kufufu… the Skylark will throw a fit for the strangest reasons." Mukuro picked up a document from her desk. "Oya oya, there seems to be many people complaining about this Jinshintou Gumi."

"Yeah… In the original timeline, the Momokyokai Gumi kept them away from Namimori. However, due to… some reasons, they were disbanded earlier, too early to prevent the Jinshintou Gumi from expanding here…" Suddenly Tomiko looked up. She turned to Mammon, who was on the sofa sorting the contents of the metal box. "Mammon… did you tell anyone you were coming here today?"

"No." Mammon looked up curiously at Tomiko. "I don't get paid to report where I am going."

Tomiko sighed. "Bel is here."

"Dumb prince." Mammon grumbled. He locked the metal box and floated towards Tomiko. "Where?"

Standing up, Tomiko turned to the window and pointed to the courtyard. She face palmed. "Kyoya will definitely throw a fit."

"Ah. Hibari-senpai already did." Fran pressed his hands against the window. "Bel-senpai is going to get bitten to death."

"Kufufu… oya oya, it seems like the birdie is going to make a mess."

Tomiko sighed. "The Cervello just renewed the school too… for free…"

Mammon perked. Doing the math quickly in his head, he opened the window and flew out, determined to stop the fight before something got destroyed.

"Mammon-senpai became a jet." Fran shifted from his position to get a better view. "Shishou, aren't you going to join them?"

"Kufufufu… but of course." Mukuro jumped out the window and joined the battling trio.

"…Fran."

Fran raised both of his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Miko-hime, I'm innocent. Shishou was going to either way."

Tomiko found herself sighing again. "At least Reborn and Tsuna aren't here today…"

"Training?"

"Probably…" She closed her eyes. "They are at the outskirts of Namimori… rock climbing." Tomiko sighed. "For some reason, I'm not surprised."

Fran nodded in agreement. He glanced out the window and blinked twice at the lack of violent people in the courtyard. "Miko-hime, where did they go?"

Tomiko turned towards the door. "…They are headed this way… all 4 of them." The sounds of 'Ushishishi', 'Kufufu', herbivores and complaints about money confirmed it. Tomiko sighed. "Fran, please?"

"Okay, Miko-hime." A shroud of mist covered Tomiko and she disappeared from view.

…

"Ushishishi, the prince found the froggy" Bel slid the door open and pranced into the room, dodging a tonfa and a trident on the way.

"Herbivore, get out of my school." Kyoya slashed his tonfa again, though not as hard as he would have wanted. He did not want to induce the wrath of the mist arcobaleno and possibly the wrath of Tomiko after all.

"Ushishishi, if the peasant begs then the prince might leave."

"Kufufu… I do not see a 'prince' anywhere." Mukuro glanced at Tomiko's direction once before refocusing on Bel.

"Kaching." Bel tossed some knives. "The prince commands the pineapple to shut up."

"Kufufu… I do not see a 'pineapple' anywhere either."

"Shishou, look in the mirror." Mukuro directed his attack at Fran.

Mammon hovered over to where the invisible Tomiko was, watching the 3 carefully to make sure they do not damage anything. "Mu, the dumb prince found me through elimination."

Tomiko silently sighed, wondering how many places Bel crashed through before finally reaching here.

"Does that affect the total balance?" Mammon asked, reading Tomiko's mind.

Tomiko sighed once more, explaining mentally how it would affect a percentage of their tax control, but she might have to get personally involved as well depending on how much psychological damage Bel caused.

Both Mammon and Tomiko stared at the self-proclaimed prince in annoyance, one over the monetary damage, the other over the inevitable amount of paperwork.

"Bel-senpai, why are you even here?" Fran asked, lying over the back of the sofa.

"Kaching. The prince is here to for Mammon, not the frog."

"Bel-senpai, then why are you up here?" Fran scratched his apple hat. "Mammon-senpai went down to meet you."

"Ushishishi, the prince wants to know why Mammon wasn't at the hotel yesterday."

"I was busy." Mammon grumbled in memory of why he was 'busy'.

"Ushishishi." Bel walked closer to Mammon with a bloodthirsty grin. "So Mammon was having fun without the prince." He dodged another tonfa and a trident attack, spotting a pattern. "Ushishishi, it seems like the peasants do not want the prince to approach Mammon."

"Kufufu… if the self-proclaimed prince approaches the paperwork, I would imagine that the birdie will throw a fit."

"Ushishishi." Bel tossed 4 knives at the area below Mammon. They stopped just before they reached the window. "Mu. Bel, you're paying for anything you destroy." The knives dropped to the ground.

Bel stared at the knives at the ground, noting how uncharacteristic it was for Mammon to act this way. "Ushishishi, Mammon, the prince demands to know why you are here."

"A job." Mammon sighed. By now, Tomiko had long moved to the door, waiting for an opportunity to exit the room. Fran responded to her movement, casting an illusion over the door.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the other door. Kyoko slid the door open. "Toku-cha-" Her eyes focused on the room. She blinked once before giving a bright smile. "Good afternoon, Inchou. I have a message for Kaichou… Should I give it to you or Toku-chan?"

"… Leave it on the table." Kyoya had both tonfas out, one covered in knives and the other pressed against Bel. Mukuro had his trident in the air in preparation for another slash at the prince. Mammon was still floating by the window and Fran was slung over the sofa, apple hat covering most of his face.

Kyoko nodded and walked towards the table. Just as she was one step away from it, she unknowingly set off a wire trap Bel had recently constructed. A knife flew from above, aimed right at Kyoko's head. Before anyone was able to react, a burst of sky flames disintegrated the knife.

Kyoko placed a piece of paper on the table and walked out, bowing to Kyoya before sliding the door closed.

There was a moment of silence.

"Ushishishi, it seems like the peasants, the frog and Mammon are hiding something from the prince."

As for Kyoya and Mukuro, they put their weapons away and silently moved to the side of the room. Kyoya took out his phone to call Shoichi while Mukuro mentally called Chrome.

"Fran." Fran dispelled the illusion around a highly irritated Tomiko. She had long taken off her mask and hair pins.

Bel stared at the girl for 10 seconds before realizing he was going to feel a lot of pain very soon. After all, one of the things Sawada Tsunayoshi hated the most was when innocent civilians were victimized. Even if it was by accident.

With the protection of 4 powerful illusionists and machines Shoichi set up around the room, Tomiko released her years of built up stress on poor Bel.

* * *

And Bel came back, the very next day.

"Bel-senpai, are you here to get fried again?" Fran was impressed that Bel was willing to return to his scene of injury.

"Kaching. Quiet froggy." Bel threw knives at Fran. "The prince is here to demand the brat to entertain him."

"…Bel, I'm busy. Over the paperwork you caused yesterday." Tomiko did not look up from her desk, concentrating on the documents in front of her.

"Ushishishi, the brat can spare some time for the prince." Bel tossed a knife at Tomiko, which was quickly repelled by an angry Skylark and an annoyed pineapple.

"Bel, bother me later. Go play with Lussuria…" Suddenly she shot out of her seat, almost flinging the yellow canary off her shoulder. "Lussuria" She dashed out of the room. 2 seconds later, she dashed back in, grabbed her paperwork, and ran back out again.

The other occupants of the room were stunned frozen at the sudden movement. They thawed out as they heard a familiar voice yelling "Mou~ Bel-kun, where are you?" from the courtyard.

"…Herbivore I will bite you to death."

"Ushishishi, the prince has no idea why the pheasant is here."

Mammon did though. "…Mu. Bel, did you ask Lussuria to heal you?" He asked, eyeing the good-as-new Bel.

"…" Bel's smile fell for 2 seconds before returning. "Ushishishi."

"Dumb prince." Mammon grumbled, angry that he won't be able to play with the metal box again.

"Ano…" Chrome slid the door open. "Tomiko-sama just ran past me… did something happen?"

"Kufufu… the self-proclaimed prince led a peacock here." Mukuro chuckled. "Oya oya, it seems like I would be able to have some fun."

"Shishou, Lussuria-senpai is a martial artist." Fran reminded him, aware of Mukuro's previous encounter with Ryohei.

"…Kufufu…" Mukuro turned to face the wall.

Kyoya was torn between going after the trespassing peacock or sparing the least destructive Varia member.

"A-ano…" Chrome pointed outside the room. "Lussuria-san is-"

"Mou~ Luss-nee has arrived~" Lussuria gave a pose after she slid the door opened. "Ara, Mammon-kun and Fran-chan are also here." Lussuria turned to Chrome. "Good morning, Chrome-chan~"

Chrome slowly nodded. "Good morning, Lussuria-san."  
"Mou~ It's Luss-nee." Lussuria rubbed Chrome's cheek then addressed the rest of the room. "Mukuro-kun and Hibari-kun are here as well, ne?"

Mukuro left his wall of depression as Kyoya decided to spare the least destructive Varia member in favor of less paperwork.

"Mou~ Let's all have a picnic and chat~" Lussuria proceeded to drag Chrome and Bel out of the room. The others followed awkwardly, uncertain to what was going on.

…

Lussuria led them to the roof.

Tomiko was working on her paperwork on the floor. She did not look up from the documents as the rest of the people filed onto the roof.

"Lussuria… you knew from the beginning, didn't you." Tomiko sighed. She stood up, patted the dirt off her skirt, picked up her paperwork then walked towards the group.

"Ohohoho, I had suspicions." Lussuria turned to the guardians on the roof seductively. "Seeing Hibari-kun, Mukuro-kun and Chrome-chan confirmed it."

Tomiko gave a face palm.

"And of course Tsu-chan would be on the roof if he's not in his office."

"…" Tomiko sighed. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you, Lussuria."

Lussuria smiled. "Pleased to meet you too, Tomi-chan~" She paused. "Sorry, Tomi-chan." Lussuria placed as hand on Tomiko's unoccupied shoulder. "I told Boss about my suspicions."

A wide array of emotions made it to Tomiko's face within a 2 second time span before she settled on sighing. "Xanxus. Which means Levi and Squalo probably also know." She gave another face palm. "And they would come here soon. And destroy a lot of things soon."

Mammon, Fran, Lussuria and Bel all nodded at each statement simultaneously.

Tomiko pulled on her hair. "Argh. I give up." She turned to Kyoya, Mukuro and Chrome. "I'm going to the Varia."

All three of them opened their mouths but were silenced by Tomiko's hand. "It's inevitable. Half of the Varia already knows. It better to tell the rest under a controlled environment instead of having them destroy this school again." She grumbled. "Less paperwork… In any case, I'll go tell Xanxus and hopefully nothing will be destroyed." She sighed yet again. "Don't come with me. Those guys are enough." She pointed to the present Varia members. "If you guys come too… the hotel might be destroyed. Besides, the worst Xanxus can do is shoot me." She shrugged. "It's not like he has ever stopped shooting me before anyways."

* * *

"Ushishishi, boss, the prince has brought a gift." Bel pranced into the room after swing both of the double doors open with a loud bang.

"Bel-senpai, you didn't bring her." Fran walked into the room, sporting his 'Varia hat'. "Boss, I'm back for a few hours."

"Mou, Boss~" Lussuria waltzed into the room. "You remember what I said this morning? Well, here she is~"

Tomiko walked into the room, face exposed, with Mammon resting on one shoulder while her yellow canary rested on the other.

Xanxus' first reaction was to shoot her with a beam of wrath flames.

Sighing, Tomiko absorbed the attack with her 'Zero point breakthrough: Revised'. A flame appeared on her head in response. Tomiko dispersed the flame seconds after.

Xanxus put his gun away with a highly satisfied smirk.

"VOOOOOOIIIIIIII BRAT, WHERE WERE YOU THIS WHOLE TIME?!"

"I was hiding… Reborn doesn't know, as with almost everyone else."

Xanxus barked with laughter. "Not bad, brat."

Lizzie poked her head out from the sofa. "…Tsu'?"

Tomiko walked over and picked her up, smiling slightly. "I guess I would be 'To' this time." She turned to Xanxus. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Sawada Tsunayoshi will succeed as Vongola Decimo."

Xanxus responded better than Tomiko would have expected. "Humph. The trash will not survive."

"He will. I will make sure of that."

Xanxus gave a huff but did not speak any further, seeing the strong resolve in her eyes.

Tomiko looked down at Lizzie. "Xanxus. You owe me 2 years."

"1.5"

"2"

"…Fine. I'm keeping the pillow brat until the swap point. We'll keep the same day."

"Fine." Tomiko reached around Lizzie's neck and looked at her Varia ring. "Xanxus, you put her to work already?"

Xanxus shrugged.

"VOOII. The pillow brat has a platoon and controls them over radio. It's not like she's ever commanded them in person anyways." While asleep, Lizzie specialized as a strategist and commanded her platoon through the comfort of her blanket. Xanxus exploited that, giving Lizzie missions even while it was Tsuna's turn to take custody of her. After another expensive argument, Tsuna allowed the Varia to give Lizzie missions only if she wanted to take them.

Suddenly, Tomiko closed her eyes, Hyper Intuition signalling something to her. "…Ah… Shiro-chan."

"VOOOOIII LET'S GO ROAST A MARSHMALLOW!" The rest of the Varia also gave a war cry and moved to leave the room. Lussuria took Lizzie from Tomiko.

Tomiko snapped her eyes opened. "Wait, you don't even know where he is-" She looked out the window and gave a face palm. There was a white flying object clearly visible in the far distance. "…Don't destroy anything…"

Xanxus ruffled her hair on his way out. "No promises, brat."

Tomiko sighed.


	32. FA -6- VS Glo Xinia

Chrome wandered around the leveled ruins of Kokuyo.

It seems that even after 10 years, this place remained as it did after the Skylark went through it.

…

Chrome was not confused.

She had been informed by Tomiko, along with Mukuro, Kokuyo and the Varia. That was why she was currently in possession of the Vongola Mist ring. Mukuro did not need the mist ring, as he had 3 hell rings that were more than sufficient for what he was prepared to do in the future.

And so, Chrome woke up in her younger body 10 years into the future holding the mist ring. She was curious as to what Kokuyo looked liked so she ended up walking over to check.

If the gate of Kokuyo Theme park did not exist, she would have missed the place.

* * *

Glo Xinia was sent by #100 to assist #51 in Japan. Honestly, what a joke. #51 shouldn't even be a commander. All he did all day was seclude himself in that lab of his and occasionally give orders. If it weren't for the fact that his occasional orders brought godly effects, there was no way #100 would even consider him in his team, much less one of his favourites. Glo Xinia will definitely overthrow #51 and take over his position in Japan once he is gets back to the base.

While wandering around Namimori fuming, Glo Xinia noticed a cute purple haired girl in a mini skirt enter a deserted park. Glo Xinia gave a creepy smile because 1: the girl was cute, 2: the girl looked lost, and 3: the girl ended up in a secluded area. And so, Glo Xinia all but skipped after the girl. He was going to make his day so much better.

Glo Xinia entered the park and quickly spotted Chrome.

"Hey cutie~"

Chrome sharply turned around and screamed in memory of a pervert with some huge squid. She slammed her trident onto the floor out of reflex.

Glo Xinia screamed.

…

Chrome finally calmed down moments later and looked over at Glo Xinia. Opps… she accidentally drove him insane. Chrome walked up to the twitching body and poked it. "A-ano… I'm sorry…"

She took out her phone and dialed a number. "Tomiko-sama… I'm sorry… I accidentally drove Glo Xinia insane…"

"… it's alright Chrome, where are you?"

"Kokuyo…"

Chrome heard a soft sigh. "Don't worry, I'll tell Shoichi. Just go to the base… Ryohei should be nearby."

"Hai, Tomiko-sama." She put her phone away. Chrome bent down and rummaged through Glo Xinia's jacket for the owl box weapon. She will give it to Mukuro to possess later.

After poking the body one last time and apologizing for driving him insane, Chrome headed out of the park.

* * *

Ryohei walked around in confusion.

He was in the future. That was very extreme. He was in his older body. That was even more extreme. And he was lost. Not very extreme.

…

It wasn't his fault that he was lost. The area he ended up with had been thoroughly trashed by the 1000Flowers. It was impossible to recognize, even if he was from the time era.

Maybe this was an extreme illusion the pineapple put him in. Ryohei nodded to himself. Ah, but he recalled pineapple saying that illusions did not work on him. Hmm… pineapple must be extremely wrong!

"Ano… Sun-san."

Ryohei was brought out of his musing. "EXTREME! Dokuro! You are also extremely in pineapple's illusion!"

Chrome blinked before slowly shaking her head. "Sun-san, Mukuro-sama is not responsible… we are in the future."

Ryohei looked around again and slammed his fist into his palm. "EXTREME! We are extremely in the future!"

Chrome nodded. "Ano… we should probably head to the base…"

Ryohei punched the air. "Extreme! I will extremely lead you!"

Chrome followed behind.

…

"TSUNA!" Ryohei gave Tsuna an extreme hug.

"Onii-san! Kyoko-chan is here as well. She was waiting for you."

Ryohei punched the air and yelled "KYOKO" all the way till he reached her room.

"Ah… um…" Tsuna turned to Chrome, feeling very awkward.

"Ano… Sawada, Mukuro-sama has left me the Vongola Mist ring." She pulled the ring out. "I will be your temporary mist guardian until he arrives."

Tsuna nodded. "Thank you very much, Dokuro-san. Where is Pineapple-san?"

Chrome shook her head. "Mukuro-sama did not tell me where he was."

"Ah… I see…"

Reborn kicked Tsuna on the head. "Dame-Tsuna. All of your guardians have arrived. Act more like a boss."

"Reborn! Ah, um… Dokuro-san. Would you like to stay in the base as well…?"

Chrome nodded in gratitude. "Thank you very much, Sawada."

* * *

The message from the Varia came the next day.

Apparently, Squalo liked flashy entrances as well. And he didn't even need an amplifier.

"VOOOOOIIIIIIIIII"

The entire base heard the voice. The guardians assembled into the meeting room after finding earplugs.

"TRASH. WE WILL ATTACK THE 1000FLOWERS IN 5 DAYS."

"Ushishishi, peasants, you take care of Japan and leave Italy to the prince."

"Hai, Bel-senpai. We will leave it to you."

Bel began to chase Fran in the background.

"Mou~ Tsuna-kun, would you participate in the attack? Ara, I forgot to mention. Mukuro-kun and his group are taking care of America."

Tsuna blinked. "Oh, pineapple-san is in America?"

"VOOOIII OF COURSE. HE MAKES NO PROMISES ABOUT SUBTLETY." It was amazing how loud Squalo can get. "SO TRASH, ARE YOU JOINING OR NOT."

Tsuna nodded. "We will attack the Merone base."

Squalo nodded back. "ALRIGHT TRASH. DO YOUR WORST."

The video chat abruptly ended.

...

The guardians were busy for the next 5 days.

Takeshi and Kyoya worked hard in training Tsuna. They were in the training room much longer than out. Sometimes, the others would need to enter to remind them to eat or sleep.

Chrome was all over the base doing whatever odd jobs there needed to be done. She also spent a lot of time with Kyoko, Haru, I-pin and Bianchi. Chrome was good friends with Kyoko, having joined many of Kyoko and Tomiko's tea parties on top of seeing her regularly due to her position at school.

Lambo was exploring the base to distract himself while everyone else was busy. This base was different from what Lambo remembered, not that he remembered much in the first place. He did steer well clear from Kyoya's wing, the training rooms and the hidden area he found labelled for 'Cielo' though.

Fuuta stayed in Kyoya's wing most of the time, only joining the rest of the family during dinner. He was helping plan the Merone invasion.

Ryohei spent most of his time either with the girls or training for the hell of it. He wanted to check out his extreme body after all. He also wanted to help train Tsuna, but was kicked out by Kyoya shortly after he entered the training room.

As for Hayato…

Hayato spent the entire day before the Varia's message searching for his System CAI. He finally found the box hidden under his bed, attached to the frame. He growled in exasperation and blamed it on the cow.

He opened the box, expecting Uri, another box, ring and gun part. He got a piece of paper.

"Develop it yourself, sucker. - Gokudera Hayato"

Hayato burned the paper in rage.

And so, Hayato spent the rest of the time building his system CAI from scratch.


	33. FA -7- VS Spanner

The fated day eventually arrived.

As planned, Shoichi sent a group of people to the Vongola base.

The alarm went off.

"Juudaime! The damn Skylark is taking care of the intruders."

"Tsuna, let's go to the Merone base."

Tsuna was dragged out of the Vongola base by Hayato, Takeshi, Ryohei and Lal Mirch.

…

"Weak herbivore…"

Chrome, Kusakabe, Lambo and I-pin watched Kyoya bulldoze through the enemies from the sideline. They all knew that if any of them stepped in; they will be made victim to a bored Kyoya.

"I will bite Irie Shoichi to death for sending such weak herbivore."

* * *

Shoichi sneezed, holding his stomach with a sense of foreboding.

"Shoichi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Tomiko-chan… I think someone is talking about me…" hopefully not Hibari-san complaining about weak herbivore.

Tomiko nodded. "By the way, are you sure this is alright? Won't people get suspicious when they hear voices coming from this room?"

"Don't worry… I talked to myself and to computer simulations all the time before my soul swapped. I actually followed the plans…" He showed Tomiko the records.

She sweat dropped. "You talked to computers that much…? Won't the Cervello question your sanity?"

…

"Irie-sama is talking to himself again."

"Shh… don't let Irie-sama hear you."

"Irie-sama is too busy talking to himself to notice…"

"…" the Cervello took one step away from the door.

…

"Ahaha… don't worry about it." Shoichi didn't need to tell her that they already did, multiple times.

"Alright… well, I'll see you later." Tomiko put on a cloak and a pair of orange opaque goggles. She covered her head with the hood on the cloak. Her yellow canary snuggled into her neck, hidden from view.

"Don't forget this." Shoichi pinned a large pin that said #72 onto her shoulder. It had the 1000Flowers symbol on it as the background. "It is basically an ID."

"Thank you…" She looked at the table. "#51." She gave him a mock salute. Shoichi spluttered as she chuckled. Tomiko turned on her communicator and headed out the secret passageway, which was unguarded by Cervello.

* * *

Tsuna, Hayato, Takeshi, Lal and Ryohei wandered into the base. Simultaneously, Shoichi sent Dendro Chilum to them.

"Oh, #51 is right." Dendro Chilum stood in front of them. "I am the feared top lancer!" He proceeded to perform a long introduction. "Vongola Decimo. I will eliminate you."

Tsuna sent a tiny ball of hard sky flames at Dendro Chilum.

It was a OHKO.

Takeshi laughed. "Good job Tsuna." He patted Tsuna's head. "Hibari would be very proud of you."

Tsuna beamed.

"Let's move on."

…

The group met Gingerbread, who Shoichi also sent over.

"Hmmm, #51 led me to something good~"

"Step aside. I have a score to settle with him." Lal Mirch walked forward.

Moments later, Gingerbread was pulverized.

"Che. A doll." Hayato grumbled.

"Lal Mirch, are you alright?" Takeshi walked up to her. She was evidently breathing much heavier than before.

The alarm rang before Takeshi got an answer.

"Let's split up. I'll go with Lal Mirch, Hayato can go with Tsuna and Senpai can move alone. Is that alright?"

"Baseball freak, don't go ordering people around!" Hayato yelled, but complied anyways. After years with Takeshi, he was honestly only yelling out of habit.

Takeshi knew, so he just laughed. They split ways.

…

"They've split ways…" Shoichi leaned back on his chair. He grabbed his communicator.

"Tomiko-chan. I'm going to start."

"…already? Alright."

* * *

Hayato and Tsuna had moved through several empty rooms, when suddenly, they heard a loud sound. Hayato had a pretty good idea what was going to happen, so remained standing still. Tsuna, on the other hand, freaked out. He dashed towards the door. Hayato tried to grab Tsuna but was too slow.

The base moved.

Tsuna found himself separated from Hayato.

"G-gokudera-san?" He opened the door behind him and found himself in some sort of water system. The door he just came from refused to reopen. Suddenly, three robots flew towards him.

"AAAH! ROBOTS" Tsuna made a mad dash around the room.

"Strau Mosca." A voice suddenly rang.

"AAAAH! A GHOST"

"Spanner."

"Oh, Hi." Tsuna somehow calmed down.

"Hi."

"Um… Mr. Ghost"

"Spanner."

"Spanner-san… can you stop the robots?"

"Strau Mosca."

"Can you stop the Strau Mosca?"

"Later."

"EH! B-but they are attacking me…" Tsuna had been constantly dodging throughout the entire conversation.

"They are programmed to attack."

"W-wha-"

"Dame-Tsuna." Reborn's voice rang out. A hologram image of Reborn appeared.

"AAAAH! REBORN'S GHOST"

"Dame-Tsuna, this is a hologram. I will show you how alive I am when you get back. For now, just attack the Strau Mosca."

…

And so, Tsuna started sending tiny balls of hard flames at the Strau Mosca in attempt to destroy its core. The strategy would have worked… if there were fewer Strau Mosca.

"WHY ARE THEY MULTIPLYING LIKE FLIES"

"Because they are."

"MR. GHOST"

"Spanner."

"SPANNER-SAN, PLEASE STOP THEM"

"Later."

"PLEASE"

"Freeze them."

"I CAN ONLY SHOOT FIRE, NOT ICE"

"Spanner, Tsuna hasn't achieved that yet." Reborn explained, fedora held over his eyes.

"Oh. Then shoot a beam."

Tsuna did not need further prompting.

"X-Burner"

A huge beam of sky flames erupted. Spanner narrowed his eyes. This was way too much flames, even for someone like Vongola Decimo. Vongola wouldn't be able to survive at this rate. He instantly used a robot to knock Tsuna out.

…

"Shoichi. I have Vongola."

"Ok. Take care of him."

And so, Tsuna was dragged into Spanner's section of the Merone base.

…

Spanner had always been a very thorough person.

So when Shoichi said to 'take care' of him, Spanner did everything he could think of that constituted as 'take care'.

Including stripping the poor boy and giving him a bath.

"Hmm? What's this…" Spanner took the locket off of Tsuna. After fidgeting with it for a while (Tsuna was in the bath during this time), he managed to open it. He looked inside the locket for a brief moment before closing it and setting it on the table. Then he put Tsuna into coveralls and put him onto a bed. Spanner was getting up to search for a blanket, when Tsuna finally woke up.

"Nngh…" Tsuna opened his eyes and went face to face with a piece of paper."… Wha…"

"Spanner."

"O-oh." Tsuna woke up a few seconds later and shot up. "W-where am I?"

"Morning."

"Ah, um. Good morning."

"Japanese green tea." Mini Mosca handed Tsuna some tea.

"Thank you…" Tsuna looked at the Mini Mosca. "AAH! THAT ROBOT!"

"Mini Mosca."

"M-mini Mosca…" Tsuna scooted away from Mini Mosca. Mini Mosca felt heartbroken.

"Eh? Why am I in coveralls?"

"Your guardian told me to take care of you."

"…W-wha?"

"…It's Spanner's bad habit." Reborn finally appeared to explain the situation to Tsuna. "Whenever someone faints near Spanner, he would take them to his room, give them a bath, then put them to bed. Sometime, he would even sing to them if they were having nightmares…" Reborn trailed off.

Spanner shrugged. "Japanese hospitality." Within the Vongola mansion of the past, fainting was a very normal occurrence. Spanner had his fair share of 'taking care' of every single one of them. The most frequent victim was unsurprisingly Irie Shoichi. Shoichi eventually stopped reacting every time he woke up in Spanner's bed. Speaking of which, Reborn had been victimized once. Reborn hid from Spanner for 4 months afterwards. The incident was not to be mentioned ever again.

"Eh…? So Spanner-san is family?"

Spanner shrugged. "I work for Shoichi."

"Sol-nii?! W-where is he?"

"I'll take you to him later." Spanner held the locket in front of Tsuna. "Who did you get this from?"

Tsuna grabbed the locket. "…I got it from someone very important to me."

Spanner gave a hmm. He picked up a box. "These are contacts that tell you how much flames you are using in fiamma volts. Put them on."

Tsuna complied.

Spanner led Tsuna onto a machine. "This is a simulator. Go practice using the contacts on it." he put the helmet onto Tsuna's head before Tsuna got the chance to speak.

…

"Shoichi. I'm done."

"Oh, thanks Spanner. You have about 45 minutes before you can start heading over."

"Mm'k."


	34. FA -9- VS Genkishi

Author's Note:

The following events are happening simultaneously  
It should hopefully make sense by the end of the chapter  
I also went back and altered a few minor details concerning honorifics and naming  
Tsuna calls Shoichi 'Sol-nii'  
That was my intention from the start, but i forgot  
the idea was hidden deep in my notes and i just found it...

-1458

* * *

"…" Chrome, Kusakabe, Lambo and I-pin silently trailed after Kyoya.

They definitely did not want to invoke his rage.

Kyoya was angry. He was angry because the weak herbivore was weak and he was bored of fighting weak herbivore. He swore that the next weak herbivore he saw will be swiftly bitten to death.

No one pointed it out to him that Kyoya swore the same sentence multiple times already. Instead, they carefully stepped over the trail of blood and bodies silently.

Kyoya headed straight into the Merone base and instantly parted with the rest of the group.

Everyone sighed in relief.

"Kusakabe-san, Lambo, I-pin… I will head off on my own as well." Chrome gave them a bow and separated from them.

"Well then, Lambo, I-pin, let's go in that direction." Kusakabe carried off Lambo and I-pin on his back as he entered a different room. As he did not have any memories of the past, he remained unaware that Lambo and I-pin were both mentally older than they looked.

* * *

"EXTREME" Ryohei gave a final punch.

Gamma fell to the ground, surrendering. He sighed. "I was just defeated by someone who doesn't even have a box weapon…"

"EXTREME" Ryohei bent down beside Gamma. "What's wrong, old man? I thought you would extremely put up more of a fight."

Shaking his head, Gamma laid onto the ground. "I don't know what's going on anymore." He covered his face with his hands. "Boss suddenly left one day and gave the Princess complete control over the Giglio Nero. Then the Princess went to meet #100 and before we knew it, Giglio Nero assimilated with the 1000Flowers. The Princess, no, she's #01 now, then became one of #100's favourites… His other favourite, #51, is like those stereotypical mad scientists you see in those movies. He talks to his computers all day and even named each of them… Then his last favourite, #72, is like a secret police ninja. #72 is everywhere and nowhere at the same time." Gamma shuddered. "#72 might be here right now. I don't even know what gender they are. I don't even know if they actually even exist." He yelped in exasperation. "What if the princess turns crazy as well?"

Ryohei patted Gamma's back. "It's extremely alright, old man."

"No, it's not. I haven't even heard of the 1000Flowers before that day and suddenly I find out I am #57." Gamma unpinned his #57 pin and looked at it. "I don't even know what #100 looks like…" He abruptly sat up. "What type of boss wears a huge puffy white hat all day?"

Ryohei blinked. "Didn't the Giglio Nero extremely wear extremely huge puffy white hats all day?"

Gamma shook his head. "Nonono, that's different." He clasped both hands on each of Ryohei's shoulders. "#100's hat is a huge cylinder with a huge ^w^ drawn on it. It covers his entire head. I have never even seen his face before. I don't even know the colour of his hair."

"A extremely huge white puffy cylinder hat? Like an extreme marshmallow?"

Gamma's eyes widened. "YES! It's exactly like a huge marshmallow." He let go of Ryohei and placed a hand on his chin, in a thinking gesture. "Why is he wearing a marshmallow hat?"

"He must extremely like marshmallows."

Gamma nodded. "He must really like marshmallows…"

"EXTREME" Suddenly, Ryohei held his head, almost collapsing.

Gamma helped him up. "What's wrong?"

Ryohei let go of his head and looked at his hands in confusion. He shrugged. "EXTREME HEADACHE!" He punched the air. "Old man, I'll need to extremely move on. Good luck with your extreme problems."

"Yeah, thanks" Gamma watched as Ryohei exited the room. "Ah, I didn't ask him who he was…" Gamma shrugged and exited the room from a different door.

* * *

Tomiko entered the room and walked past the bodies on the floor. "Chrome, are you alright?"

Chrome slowly nodded. "Hai, Tomiko-sama…I'm sorry, I think I got a little too worked up…"

Tomiko gave Chrome a hug before straightening her hair and clothes. She eyed one of the bodies on the floor. "…Iris Hepburn. Don't take anything she said to heart."

"I know, Tomiko-sama."

Tomiko turned on her communicator. "Shoichi, Iris Hepburn and her Death Stalk Unit won't be waking up for a while."

"Ah… are they…"

"They are alive and still sane. They just won't be waking up for a long time."

"Ok. Tomiko-cha-" Shoichi stopped speaking abruptly and fell onto the floor from his chair, holding his head. On the other side of the communicator, Chrome and Tomiko experienced the same, though Tomiko was able to remain standing due to her higher pain tolerance. She held Chrome up to prevent her from collapsing onto the floor. The headache left as quickly as it came.

"Shoichi, are you alright?" Tomiko asked, helping Chrome back up to her feet.

"Yes… probably…" Shoichi was still slightly dazed. "Anyways… I was going to tell you that almost all of the strongest units of this base has been defeated. Spanner should be bringing Tsuna over here in around 20 minutes."

"Alright." Tomiko turned off her communicator. "Chrome, I'll need to go prepare now. Shoichi should call for you in about 15 minutes."

Chrome nodded. "Hai, Tomiko-sama. Please be careful."

"You too, Chrome. See you later."

* * *

"Hmmm, intruders. Let's play for a while~" Gingerbread raised its broomstick.

"Don't wanna." Lambo grumbled. Gingerbread was charred to ashes seconds later.

Kusakabe stared at the pile of black dust.

"…Kusakabe-san." I-pin climbed over Kusakabe's shoulder to face him. "Sorry. Lambo is throwing a tantrum…"

Kusakabe dumbly nodded, recalling how Kyoya had told him not to underestimate cows once in passing. He now he was wishing that Kyo-san gave him more details...

"Lambo…" I-pin looked down at Lambo. "Don't be so rude."

"Whatever, I-pin." Lambo waved her away. He was in a very bad mood. Being thrown into a new environment and spending long periods of time alone was evidently affecting him. Though in all technicality, his bad mood started months ago, when he came back from the future the first time.

I-pin opened her mouth to scold him some more, but was interrupted by a huge headache. All three of them fell down to the ground in pain.

Lambo was the first to recover. Releasing his fingers from his hair, he pulled out a huge afro wig. Lambo stared at the wig for a few seconds before giving a wicked grin. He put the Vongola Lightning ring into the afro.

"Lambo, I-pin, are you two alright?" Kusakabe took off his basket to check the two children.

"Yes, we are fine." I-pin replied. Lambo gave a small nod beside her.

"That's good. Lambo, I-pin, why don't you two go rest for a while. You must be very tired by now." Kusakabe pulled out a blanket an proceeded to tuck the two to bed. They both awkwardly complied.

Suddenly, the base began to shake violently around them. Kusakabe looked around to identify the source while I-pin ducked into the blanket. Seizing the opportunity, Lambo put the wig into Kusakabe's basket and partially under the blanket. He ran off without giving so much a backward glance. Time to explore the Merone base.

* * *

Takeshi and Lal Mirch waited till the base stopped moving again before entering the door. They were greeted by Genkishi.

"Intruders. Vongola Rain guardian and company. #100 would want you gone." Genkishi got into a battle ready stance.

Takeshi stepped forward.

"Brat, are you sure you want to battle? Aren't you exhausted?"

"Maa maa… I don't think you should battle either."

Lal Mirch said nothing before sighing and moving onto the side.

Takeshi laughed and took out his sword. He too got into a battle ready stance.

And that was when Hibari Kyoya destroyed the wall behind Takeshi and barged into the room.

"Yamamoto Takeshi. Hand over the herbivore."

Takeshi froze for half a second before all but dashing to the side of the room, joining Lal on the bleachers. He did not need to look at Kyoya to be able to guess his current mood.

"…What's wrong with him?" Lal asked.

"…Ahaha… weak herbivore…" Takeshi sheepishly laughed.

Lal Mirch gave him a weird look but said nothing. She did not know how correct Takeshi was.

…

"Herbivore. Are you strong?"

"I am the Phantom Knight, strongest of the 1000Flowers, Vongola Cloud guardian, strongest of the Guardians."

"Hn."

Kyoya took out his tonfas and began to battle with Genkishi.

They continued to battle for a long time. Genkishi released his box weapon of sea slugs and took out his four swords. Kyoya continued to battle with his flame covered tonfas.

…

"…He's stalling isn't he?" Lal asked Takeshi.

"Maa maa… Hibari has his reasons…" Once again, Takeshi was much more aware of the reason than Lal was.

"Why would he want to stall?"

"… Hibari wants a bigger challenge."

…

Genkishi eventually realized that Kyoya was stalling him.

"Why are you stalling?"

"Hn." All Genkishi received was a smirk.

"Well it does not matter. This place will be your grave."

Genkishi took out his hell ring. His spectral sword appeared. Genkishi slashed at Kyoya.

Kyoya's smirk widened.

"…Why are you amused?" Genkishi received no response. Annoyed, he sent his sword projectiles at Kyoya. They continued to battle like this.

"…Almost" Genkishi heard Kyoya mutter. He began to grow very uneasy. Kyoya obviously had something up his sleeves.

The ring reacted to Genkishi's unease and entered skeletal form.

The smirk on Kyoya's face widened even more.

"…" The skeletal knight opened its mouth and released illusions of souls. "These are connected to the souls of the people you love. Die by the hands of your beloved ones."

Kyoya's smirk was now full blown. Suddenly, a pink puff of smoke appeared.

Genkishi stared at the younger cloud guardian. "What bad luck. Your future self led you to your death. These are souls of your beloved ones. Now die by their hands"

The souls lunged at Kyoya.

Kyoya smirked. "I'll bite you to death." He ruthlessly attacked the souls.

…

"Ow… " Takeshi held his head in pain.

"What's wrong, brat?"

"I don't know… I just got a huge headache all of the sudden. It's gone now though." Takeshi shrugged. "Maa maa, I was probably just tired."

…

Genkishi was stunned. "Kid, you just attacked the people you care for. They could have died."

"Hn. If they died of something like that, I will bite them to death." Kyoya twirled his tonfas. "Herbivore. Are you truly strong?"

"… I AM STRONG. I AM #100'S STRONGEST." Genkishi pointed his sword at Kyoya. "I WILL SHOW YOU." Kyoya's provocation obviously worked.

"Hn. If you are weak, I will bite you to death."

…

Kyoya bit him to death.

Takeshi, Lal and Kyoya stared at the body and hell ring on the floor in silence.

Kyoya was livid.

He didn't even use Roll.

Takeshi and Lal did not get any warning before Kyoya attacked them.

* * *

"… WAAAH." Shoichi screamed at the screen, holding his stomach. "HIBARI-SAN, PLEASE STOP…"

Shoichi grabbed his communicator. "TOMIKO-CHAN! Hibari-san is on a rampage…"

"… I know." Tomiko sighed as the ground beneath her shook again. "Shiro-chan, didn't I warn you about sending weak herbivore to Kyoya?"

"Ehhh, I did my best, Mi-chan. I sent Gen-kun at Hiba-kun."

"… " Tomiko sighed again. "Shiro-chan… Kyoya didn't even use a box weapon."

"Hiba-kun is a monster~"

"You could have done better."

"CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME?! THE BASE IS GOING TO COLLAPSE AT THIS RATE." Shoichi wailed.

"Eh~ That's not good. Poor king Sho-chan." They heard the sound of a marshmallow being chewed through the communicator.

"… Shoichi, tell Kyoya and the others to enter the tube. It's fine if it's a bit ahead of schedule."

"Alright."

...

Shoichi picked up his phone and dialed a number. Kyoya answered after the 3rd ring. "Hibari-san... I beg you, please stop destroying the base and come to my lab..."

"Herbivore, I will bite you to death for sending weak herbivore." Kyoya hung up. He, Takeshi and Lal Mirch walked towards the lab, calling the others, sans Tsuna and Spanner, along the way. Shoichi was given the Vongola rings.

…

The short three-way spar between Takeshi, Lal and Kyoya obliterated 27% of the base.


	35. FA -10- VS Shoichi

"Shoichi should be just ahead." Spanner rummaged his pocket for a spannerpop. He handed one to Tsuna.

"Thank you…" Tsuna put the spannerpop in his mouth. "Um… Spanner-san.."

"Hm?"

"…Is it really a good idea to ride the robot?"

"Strau Mosca."

"Right. Strau Mosca." Spanner and Tsuna were seated on the back of the Strau Mosca, flying through the base towards Shoichi's lab.

Spanner shrugged. "Faster than walking."

Tsuna bit his lip, knowing that Spanner was right. However, he was still apprehensive about riding the huge robot.

Spanner's split decision to ride the Strau Mosca to Shoichi occurred a few minutes ago, when Shoichi called Spanner asking if he could head over instantly.

"Ah, we're there."

"…Spanner-san. That's a wall."

"Mm." Spanner gently tapped the Strau Mosca's shoulder with his foot. The Strau Mosca raised an arm and blasted the wall to bits. It then parked itself, stomach down, on top of the rubble.

Spanner slid off the Strau Mosca, dragging Tsuna down with him. Tsuna's face mirrored the faces of everyone else in the room. Shoichi was next to a huge tube with two Cervello beside him, all three of them staring at the once-wall rubble. Inside the tube, the intruders from Vongola stared as well. "We're here." Spanner stuck the spannerpop back into his mouth.

Shoichi blinked twice and dumbly nodded.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING. WHAT IF YOU DESTROYED THE WRONG WALL" Hayato screamed at the stoic mechanic.

Spanner gave them a thumbs up. "We're lucky."

Hayato jumped up from inside the tube. Takeshi held him back. "Maa maa… no one's hurt, don't worry so much."

"…Ahem." Shoichi gave a fake cough. "There is poisonous gas connected to that tube." He opened his hand, revealing the Vongola rings. "I have taken away all of their weapons. Sawada Tsunayoshi, your guardians and friends are at my mercy."

The Cervello stepped forward. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, hand over your Sky ring or your guardians will die."

Tsuna casually took off his Sky ring and walked forward.

Everyone just stared, surprised, at his nonchalant reaction. Shoichi gave a huge face palm. Throwing his arms into the air, he yelled. "I give up. I knew this was impossible from the start."

The Cervello turned to him, confused. They found themselves on the floor seconds later, having been shot with sedatives by Shoichi.

Shoichi unbuttoned his stuffy 1000Flowers coat. "Why were the Cervello even necessary?!" He ranted out loud, throwing his coat onto the ground. Shoichi turned to Tsuna. "Tsuna, you are aware of how important the Vongola Sky ring is, right?"

Tsuna nodded. "This ring can destroy the world, right?"

Shoichi gaped. "Who taught you that?"

"Hibari-niisan."

After a huge face palm, Shoichi turned to Kyoya. "Hibari-san, what on earth did you teach Tsuna?"

"Hn." Kyoya shrugged.

"Anyways," Shoichi turned back to Tsuna. "If you knew that the ring 'can destroy the world' then you shouldn't have given it away so easily."

Tsuna cocked his head slightly, a visible question mark forming on top of it.

"What if I wanted to use it destroy the world?!"

Tsuna shrugged. "I don't think Sol-nii would do such a thing. Toku-nee would go after you if you did. Plus Hibari-niisan didn't react so it must have been ok to give it to you."

Shoichi stared at Tsuna for a full 5 seconds before sighing. "Yeah, I give up." He shook his head slightly. "Tsuna, I dragged you to the future to defeat #100."

"#100?"

"Yeah. He's the boss of this 1000Flowers Mafia group."

"Eh? They are Mafia?" Tsuna's eyes widened. "Sol-nii is in the mafia?"

Shoichi scratched his face. "Err… yeah."

"How bout Toku-nee?"

"Tomiko-chan is not involved with the mafia."

"Oh." Tsuna nodded. "Where is Toku-nee, by the way?"

"I don't know. She was in India the last time she contacted me."

"India? Is she traveling?"

"No, it was for a job. Anyways, we are going off topic." Shoichi placed a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "You need to defeat #100."

Tsuna nodded.

"The 1000Flowers are trying to take over the world. You need to stop them."

Tsuna nodded again. "When do I start?"

Shoichi blinked twice. "Err, um…" He looked towards the tube for help.

"Sawada… perhaps you should check with Mukuro-sama and the Varia first." Chrome glanced at the two large flatscreens on opposite walls.

"Dame-Tsuna, listen to Dokuro." Reborn's hologram ordered.

"EXTREME, Tsuna let's extremely wait" Ryohei punched the air and extremely sat back, waiting for the screens to turn on. The rest of the people in the tube had behaved in a similar manner, some of them took out earplugs in preparation.

…

Shortly afterwards, they were rewarded.

"VOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" The screen on the left flashed on. "TRASH, ARE YOU DONE YET?"

Takeshi waved. "Yo, Squalo~"

Squalo nodded back. "SHITTY BOSS, THEY ARE DONE."

Levi pushed Xanxus's throne into view. Xanxus stared at the screen then threw a glass at Squalo. "Shark trash, are you blind? Their mist trash isn't done yet."

"Kufufufufufu…" The other screen slowly brightened. "Oya oya, Xanxus, we were done a long time ago."

"Yeah, byon. Mukuro-sama set an illusion over the camera to spy on the Vongola."

"Shishou has perverted hobbies." Mukuro stabbed Fran.

"Kufufufu…" Mukuro stabbed Fran again. "I do not have perverted hobbies."

Fran shrugged. "You have been watching the Vongola for an hour already."

Hayato exploded. "DAMN PINEAPPLE, YOU WERE WATCHING THE ENTIRE TIME!? THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU APPEAR EARLIER?"

"Kufufu…" Mukuro leaned back, pulling the trident out of Fran. "It amused me, to watch you all cram into a little tube like lab rats."

"Shishou was just indulging in his creepy hobbies." The trident found it's way back into Fran.

"Um… so I guess you both succeeded?" Shoichi meekly asked.

"Humph. Of course, Trash."

"Kufufufu."

Suddenly, there was a small static noise and a voice that had been amplified loud that it sounded as loud as 2 Squalos rang out.

"Hey king Sho-chan~"

Everyone slammed their ears shut, yelling profanities at the marshmallow. Shoichi was all over his control panel, trying to figure out why it was so loud.

"It's no use, king Sho-chan, I have control over the entire base."

"MARSHMALLOW. SHUT UP." Multiple voices screamed.

"Humph. Fine then." There was the sound of static again as Byakuran decreased the volume. "I just wanted a dramatic entrance as well."

A third flatscreen descended into view from the ceiling, revealing a person wearing a huge marshmallow hat with a ^w^ face stitched on the front. There was a #100 pin on his chest.

Everyone stared at the screen in dead silence.

Tsuna stared at the screen and shuddered. When he heard that the 1000Flowers boss was a marshmallow, he never thought they meant it literally.

As usual, Hayato was the first to explode. "MARSHMALLOW BASTARD. WHAT THE F$%# IS WITH THAT HAT?!"

"VOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

"Kufufu… tasteless."

Fran pulled Mukuro's sleeve. "Shishou, he copied me."

"Ushishishi, no one cares, froggy." Bel snapped from the other screen.

Reborn's holograph pointed a gun at the screen.

"Herbivore, I will bite you to death."

"EXTREME HAT" It was more extreme than what Ryohei had imagined.

"Trash, off with the hat."

Shoichi was at a complete loss of words.

"Hey, hey. It's a beautiful hat." Byakuran twirled once to flaunt the hat amidst the boos and cries. "Yuni-chan made it for me."

Everyone closed their mouths at once. Yuni must have been very bored.

Tomiko sighed over the communicator, having watched everything from a different room. "Shiro-chan, would you please take the damn hat off and stop scaring Tsuna?"

Tomiko and Shoichi could hear Yuni giggle softly through their communicators. Byakuran complied. He tugged the hat off his head and ruffled his hair back into position. Then he gave the camera a smile.

"Ranbot!"

Everyone looked at Tsuna.

"Sol-nii, isn't that your Ranbot? It looks exactly the same."

Shoichi's face was redder than his hair.

"Hmm? Ranbot?" Byakuran opened a package of marshmallows. "King Sho-chan, I want to see this Ranbot."

"I-it's n-not here…" Shoichi stuttered, turning to face the wall.

"I'll look for it later~" Byakuran popped a marshmallow in his mouth. (The robot in question was predictably in Shoichi's lab.)

"Oh right. King Sho-chan~ I will take the base back~ oh, but you can keep the Vongola since I am so kind."

"WAIT"

"Hmm~ I won't wait" Byakuran pressed a button off-screen. The base was transported to Italy a second later. He took out another marshmallow and hummed.

"SHIRO-CHAN YOU IDIOT. I SAID WAIT. LAMBO WAS STILL IN THE BASE."

Byakuran froze mid-bite into a marshmallow.

Shoichi gaped. He opened his hands and counted the Vongola rings. He could clearly see the lightning ring. He shakily turned to the tube to check, eyes widening when he counted the people inside.

"W-where's… Lambo…?

All of the occupants of the tube looked at each other before focusing on Kusakabe. Kusakabe was in the middle of searching his basket. He pulled out an afro wig.

"Hmm~ #72 found a stray cow. Mi-chan~ you can keep the cow. Eliminate anyone who goes after it~"

"Kusakabe Tetsuya, for losing a cow, you will be bitten to death." Kyoya already had his tonfas in-hand.

"W-wait! Hibari-san, not inside the tube!"

Kyoya turned to Shoichi in confusion.

"The tube is very weak and will break very easily…"

"Hn?"

"… I had to cut the budget…"

"… Hn?"

"… Byakuran took some of the money to buy marshmallows…"

Kyoya's temper spiked.

Ten years later, Mammon will throw a huge fit over Byakuran's decision. Shiro-chan incurred the wrath of the mist arcobaleno and learned first hand why it was a bad idea to mess with any arcobaleno, at the cost of his entire main base and half his sanity. His nightmares continued to haunt him for an entire year.

Byakuran decided that it was probably a good idea to move on before anyone gets any madder at him. "Anyways. King Sho-chan, I challenge you to a game of Choice~ The winner will get the Vongola rings and this girl." Byakuran pulled a screen into view, revealing Yuni dressed like Tomiko, wearing a mask, hair pins and a wig lying on a bed with one of her hands cuffed to the bed rail. "See you in 10 days, King Sho-chan~" The flatscreen abruptly shut off.

Everyone was surprised at this turn of events. Half of them began yelling at screen.

Tsuna began to panic, but then remembered the highly visible Giglio Nero tattoo on the girl's face. He Calming down, he figured that he should still save the girl, as she probably knew something about Tomiko.

Shoichi had absolutely no idea what was happening, this wasn't included in the original plans. Yuni was not supposed to appear, much less pretend to be a hostage.

Deep in thought and confusion, everyone headed back to the Vongola Base.


	36. VA -6- BASILICUM

From a distance away, Tomiko stood on the roof of a building. She had been watching the Ring Battles from this location ever since they started. With Verde's help, she could watch them personally, and not fear being detected, instead of through the view of well hidden cameras. While it was more comfortable to watch the fighting from the cameras, most of them do not actually survive all the way till the end of the battle. Shoichi would concur to that, as he had to replant his cameras after every single battle.

…

Kyoya watched the Rain battle from the roof with her, leaning against the fence. "Irie said you will do all of the paperwork."

Tomiko blinked. "Wait what?"

Kyoya smirked. "Hn." The herbivore was so dead. He watched as Tomiko calmly pulled out her cell phone and call Shoichi for clarification. Yes. The herbivore was so dead.

…

"…Is that… Lizzie?" Tomiko asked as she saw the pillow fly at the Cervello.

Kyoya focused on the bundle in Lussuria's arms. "Hn." Looks like her.

He turned to the evidently not amused Tomiko. "Bite them to death?"

Tomiko sighed. "…later. Not until after the Varia battles are over at least. Besides, we need to go see her tomorrow." Her yellow canary chirped in agreement.

Kyoya nodded. The two of them left the rooftop, ignoring the figure watching them from afar.

* * *

Tomiko gave a very deep sigh. Really, none of the Vongola knew how to be subtle. They acted like they were competing to see who could create the most damage. A prime example was the scene she was witnessing right now. Then again, when two of the most destructive people in the world fight against each other, this result was pretty much a given. Especially if it was from something like Xanxus VS Kyoya.

"The paperwork…" Tomiko watched the carnage in horror. Her yellow canary chirped in condolence. That was going be a lot of paperwork. Tomiko could only hope that the Cervello will cover the cost and replace everything perfectly.

A figure landed on the roof, a few feet behind her. Tomiko did not react, continuing to stare at the damaged school and the duo that were still fighting. The figure walked up to the railing and stopped beside her. Then he gave her a deep bow.

Tomiko finally turned to look at him. She waited until he raised his head. "…Why now?"

He blinked and smiled. "To ensure that thee is whom I think thou is. It seems that thou still retains thy range."

Tomiko sighed. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you, Basil."

Basil looked surprised. "Tomiko-dono, art thou related to Hibari-dono?"

Tomiko shook her head. "I am borrowing his name… Basil, how did you find me?"

"I have been seeking for thou ever since I gave Sawada-dono the rings. Reborn-san did not need me to train with Sawada-dono since he has yet achieved the Hyper Dying will. As such I was given much freedom to search for thee."

"How did you know that Tsuna wasn't… me?"

"Iemitsu-dono spoke very differently about Sawada-dono. It was obvious that he wasn't thee."

"Differently?"

"Yes. Iemitsu-dono called thee 'tuna-fish' but calls Sawada-dono 'tuna-roll'." Basil replied with a straight face.

"… Is there a difference…?" Tomiko could feel her yellow canary tremble, trying to hold in his laughter.

Basil nodded. "Iemitsu-dono is a very good at judging character. The fact that the two of you have different nicknames means that he does not see Sawada-dono the same as how he saw thy past self. I believe it may also be partially due to his Hyper Intuition." Basil smiled at her. " And as thou had sensed, I have watched thee watch most of the Ring battles. The Sawada-dono I remember would never leave thy friends to battle alone."

Tomiko smiled back. "I don't think that would even be considered a 'battle'."

Basil chuckled. "Agreed. They appear to be playing around." They could see the Cervello begging the duo to stop.

Tomiko sighed, counting the number of damaged buildings before she gave up and decided to count the number of buildings that were still standing instead. "The paperwork…"

"Tomiko-dono. May I inquire something?"

"Please go ahead, Basil."

"Is Sawada-dono to become Vongola Decimo?"

Tomiko blinked, turning to face Basil once again. "Isn't he already announced as Decimo?"

Basil shook his head. "CEDEF has not been informed of whom Vongola Decimo is. Vongola Nono has announced many years ago that he had a chosen heir, but the name of the heir has not been revealed."

"Then why… the rings."

"Vongola Nono personally handed me the Vongola half rings but gave no further instruction. I assume it is to preserve the identity of the heir… Iemitsu-dono is uninformed that I am in Namimori. He is under the assumption that Vongola Nono has assigned me a private mission in Korea."

"Did Nono give the Varia the other half?"

"I believed that they would have taken them either way."

Tomiko nodded in agreement. True, there was no way the Varia would back down from something this fun. "Sawada Iemitsu is unaware…" Tomiko mumbled to herself. This may pose as a problem in the future.


	37. FA -13- VS Dino

There was a puff of pink smoke. It cleared, revealing Ryohei in his younger body. He stared at it, confused, for a few seconds. "EXTREME."  
Hayato blinked. "Why did the Turf-top's body come now?"

"Maa maa, it doesn't matter as long as its here." Takeshi laughed.

Shoichi sighed. They ended up leaving the Merone Base much earlier than planned, which caused Ryohei's body to arrive 'late'. Hopefully it would not affect the stable time-loop they were trying to create.

…

"Kaichou!" Kyoko ran up to Shoichi. "Have you've been eating 3 meals a day? Are you taking a bath every day? Are your clothes clean? Are you sleeping every night? When was the last time you combed your hair?" She rambled on.

"Ah, um… yes, yes, yes, yes and yesterday."

Kyoko poked his cheek. "Have you really eaten 3 meals a day? You look like you've lost some weight."

"…Kyoko, you've never even seen my 10 years older body before."

Kyoko ignored him. "Toku-chan isn't with you?"

"Yeah."

"No wonder." Kyoko sighed. "Really, without Toku-chan, you're a complete mess. Go to take a shower and get changed. Then go eat dinner and go to bed. No machines for you today."

"Eh but-"

Kyoko ignored his protests and pushed him into the nearest bathroom, placing some clean clothes on the counter before she closed the door. She turned to her stunned audience with a smile. "I am Sasagawa Kyoko." She introduced herself to the new face.

Spanner nodded. "Spanner. Are you Shoichi's mom?"

Kyoko giggled. "I'm the vice president. I take care of Kaichou when Toku-chan is busy."

Haru was stunned. "Ha-hahi? Kyoko-chan, you… take care of the king?" Haru's image of the king shattered into a million pieces.

"Yes. Sorry, Haru-chan, I never told you?"

Haru meekly shook her head.

"Sorry. Well we need to go make dinner." Kyoko dragged Haru off to the kitchen. "I will ensure that Kaichou eats 3 meals a day."

"…Was she always like that?" Spanner asked out loud, watching the two girls walk off.

Tsuna nodded, used to this scene. "Kyoko-chan has been taking care of Sol-nii since forever."

"I see." Spanner placed his spannerpop back into his mouth and headed for the lab.

* * *

Shoichi called all of the Vongola guardians into his lab the next afternoon.

"These are the Vongola box weapons." He laid them onto the table one by one.

The guardians took the boxes and had a touching reunion with their sidekicks.

"Mukurowl…" Chrome hugged the owl.

Roll cuddled himself into Kyoya. "Hn."

"EXTREME" Ryohei had a boxing match with Kangaryuu.

Jiro and Kojiro ran/flew around Takeshi in circles. "Haha, Yo~"

"URIIII COME BACK HERE." Hayato ran out of the room.

Tsuna watched in awe at the colourful animals and flames.

"Tsuna, here are yours." Shoichi handed Tsuna an orange box and a white box. "You can open the orange one but the white one requires your strength to open." Shoichi thought for a second. "Don't use this white one until we tell you to."

Tsuna nodded. "Thank you, Sol-nii."

Spanner wheeled his chair towards them. "Vongola. The contacts." Tsuna pulled out the contact box, in which Spanner took. "Needs readjusting." Spanner took his spannerpop out of his mouth. "Vongola, do you feel tired after using flames?"

Tsuna shook his head.

Spanner nodded. "K." He placed the spannerpop back into his mouth and wheeled back to his workbench.

"Tsuna, don't use your flames until Spanner is done with your contacts." Shoichi glanced at the Lightning box weapon once before pocketing it. Lambo won't need it until he returns from the future.

"Herbivore. Your training will start tomorrow." Kyoya left the room.

"Eh? Didn't Sol-nii just say no training?" Tsuna asked, confused.

"Maa maa, we can still give you physical training." Takeshi ruffled Tsuna's hair. "Hibari never trained you with flames in the past."

Tsuna blinked. Right. He groaned slightly. So he only gets a one day break.

* * *

The first thing Kyoya did when he arrived at the planned secret location was hit Tomiko on the head with a tonfa. Then he hit the cow attached to her arm's head with a tonfa.

"Ow… Kyoya, normally people greet each other verbally." Tomiko held her head in pain. The yellow canary on her shoulder sighed.

"Hn. For being a herbivore, you deserved that type of greeting." He eyed the cow. Lambo stuck his tongue back at Kyoya before cowering deeper into Tomiko's arms, just in case. "I believe it was you who said 'I would never get caught, I have my Hyper Intuition'."

"…Stuff happened…" Tomiko flailed under Kyoya's glare. "I was distracted… there was a beautiful lightning flame that suddenly appeared and disappeared in the base so I lost track…" She shrugged. "Shiro-chan didn't know what I was talking about. I don't think I imagined it though…"

"Hn?" Should we investigate it?

Tomiko shook her head. "Leave it be. We need to remain ignorant of future affairs." She took out a piece of paper. "These are the teams for Choice."

Kyoya took the paper from her and committed the content to memory.

"Xanxus informed Fran of the changes already. The arcobaleno have arrived as well. Using this structure, we can have less of them appear."

Kyoya nodded before remembering something. "Yuni."

"Yeah… Yuni will appear after all…" Kyoya's flame flared. Tomiko sighed. "Please follow the original plan and give Shiro-chan to Tsuna… Even if he deviated from the plan slightly…" She glanced at her watch. "We should get going soon." Her gaze rose to a certain direction. "Kyoya, can you take that street back to the base?"

"Hn."

"See you later."

Lambo poked his head out and stuck his tongue at Kyoya again.

* * *

Dino was absolutely confused.

…

He had been hunted down by Squalo, who shot him in the head after appearing from nowhere.

Dino opened his eyes and found himself in the future in his older body.

…

Romario was very confused.

He was confused about Dino being confused.

When his boss woke up in the car, he suddenly began to freak out and look around like he was lost, asking strange questions and acting like he was 10 years younger.

In the end, Romario decided to just lead his boss to Namimori as they had planned the hour before.

…

The first person Dino encountered in Namimori was Kyoya.

Dino cried tears of joy at the sight of someone who looked like they knew what was going on. (Since it was undeniably agreed upon that Hibari Kyoya basically knew everything, as with Reborn.)

Kyoya, on the other hand, entered bite-on-sight mode. He was slightly irritated at Tomiko for purposely leading him to the horse herbivore, but then realized that he could vent out all the stress caused by the marshmallow onto the horse.

They sparred.

A while later, Kyoya abruptly ditched Dino, knowing that he had a tight schedule to follow. Unlike the marshmallow herbivore, Kyoya will follow the original plan to the key.

...

In the end, Dino did not learn a single thing from Kyoya.

* * *

Author's Note:

I am stuck on Choice... I am debating whether or not i should stick to the original time line and put Tsuna against torikabuto again or have him go against either bluebell, kikyo or zakuro...  
either way, i pity the person he needs to go against, as they would really need to hold back and potentially fake their defeat  
I would love some ideas or prompts of any type... i also made a little poll and would appreciate it if people voted.  
Thank you very much

-1458


	38. FA -14- VS Natsu

Author's Note:

I realized that i didn't post the poll... ff is really confusing...  
Please vote though, i am really desperate for ideas on choice  
I am condensing Choice with the after-battle, so it is basically going to be the climax of this arc.  
at least, byakuran will fight tsuna in Choice  
Thanks

-1458

* * *

I-pin was the one who found Basil.

He had collapsed in front of the base entrance, heavily bruised and fainted due to hunger.

…

Tsuna watched as Basil wolfed down 10 days worth of food. "Um… you are?"

Basil exited his state of bliss and immediately stood up. He gave Tsuna a short bow. "My name is Basil, Sawada-dono. Do you perhaps remember that I was the one who handed thee the Vongola rings?"

Tsuna immediately recognized who he was. "Archaic language user!"

Basil slowly nodded in confusion. He turned to Reborn. "Reborn-san. I have met with Lal earlier and sent her to a safe location."

Reborn gave a small nod. "Dame-Tsuna. Basil will train you as well. He will teach you more about the Hyper Dying Will."

"Eh?" Tsuna looked Basil over. "You can explode into fire as well?"

Basil nodded. He swallowed a dying will pill. A blue flame appeared on his head seconds later. "I need these pills to enter hyper mode. Sawada-dono, thou might find these pills of use as well." He handed Tsuna a canister of pills before dragging him to the training rooms. Basil also had a tight schedule to follow. He will do everything he can to make Tsuna master the Hyper Dying Will.

* * *

"Hn." Kyoya walked out the base.

I-pin jumped, not having sensed him before Kyoya spoke. "Kyoya-nii."

"What are you doing here?" Kyoya asked straight out. I-pin had been hanging around the entrance ever since they returned from the Merone base.

I-pin dipped her head. "…Lambo…" She felt very guilty. Guilty that she didn't watch Lambo more carefully. That she didn't notice his poor mood and was able to escape without her realizing.

"Cow herbivore…" Kyoya growled. Picking her up, he reassured her. "The cow herbivore is safe. In fact, the cow herbivore is probably happily disrupting peace right about now." He growled once more in memory of the childish cow. Kyoya was going to bite him to death later.

"Lambo is… really safe?"

"Hn." Very.

I-pin nodded. While she quickly realized that Kyoya knew much more than that, she decided to drop the subject. After all, if Kyoya-nii told her Lambo was safe, he was safe. Not that much could harm Lambo in the first place.

…

"…What happened in here?" Tomiko entered the room and surveyed the number of bodies on the ground, one in the air, and one sparking.

"Miko-neeeeee" Lambo ran to her and latched himself onto her stomach with a jump. "Marshmallow is a meanie."

Tomiko looked at Byakuran in confusion. He shrugged. "I promised Lambo candy if he cleaned this room."

"Where does all your soldiers come in." She eyed the pile of bodies on the ground once more.

"Ore-sama was being a good boy and cleaning properly. Then all those people came in and made a mess."

"… So you charred them." Tomiko gave a huge face palm. "Then how does that make Shiro-chan a meanie?"

"Marshmallow won't give me the candy even though I cleaned the room. See," Lambo gestured the rest of the room, which was indeed, to his credit, clean. "I cleaned it."

"Mi-chan, the room isn't clean. See," Byakuran pointed to the bodies in the middle of the room. "It's even messier than before."

"Marshmallow only said to clean the room, not take care of the bodies."

"The bodies are part of the room."

"…" Tomiko once again gave a face palm. "Both of you, get the bodies out of the room. Shiro-chan, give Lambo half the candy." She rubbed her temple. "I need a glass of water."

* * *

"Dame-Tsuna." Reborn entered the training room. Kyoya had removed himself from training Tsuna ever since Basil arrived, allowing Reborn access to the training grounds.

Tsuna walked over to Reborn, flame extinguishing on his head. "Reborn? Is it time to eat?"

Reborn kicked him. "Dame-Tsuna, you ate an hour ago." He sighed. "Do you know about Choice?"

Tsuna nodded. "I played with Sol-nii a few times before."

"Good. The 1000Flowers challenged you to Choice a few days ago."

"Oh. The board game or the computer version?"

Reborn just stared at Tsuna like he had grown another head before realizing that Shoichi didn't have the resources to let Tsuna play a full scale version. "Neither. You are playing in real life."

"Eh?" This time it was Tsuna who stared at Reborn like he had grown another head.

"We are in the future, the technology is better. Irie made a real life game board for Choice."

That got Tsuna excited. Reborn kicked him once again to calm him down. "Dame-Tsuna. Do you know how to ride a bike?"

Tsuna nodded once before pausing. "Well… probably…" He continued after receiving a gaze from Reborn. "I have never rode a bike before… but it shouldn't be that different from riding a motorcycle…"

"You know how to ride a motorcycle but not a bike." Reborn repeated.

Tsuna shrugged. "Hibari-niisan never taught me how to ride a bike, but he forced me to learn how to ride a motorcycle." Tsuna shuddered. "I don't want him to teach me how to ride a bike."

"I see." Reborn gave a small sigh. "Giannini made airbikes for Choice. They will help you move around faster. Since they are similar to motorcycles, you probably won't have much difficulty riding them." He gestured a door. "Yours is over there go try it out."

Tsuna walked over to the door and pulled the airbike out.

"Basil. How is Tsuna?" Reborn walked over to Basil.

"Sawada-dono is doing alright… though it would be preferable if he were a bit faster at learning new things." Basil inwardly sighed, knowing that he might not make his deadlines. Tsuna still didn't fully understand the dying will.

Reborn lowered his fedora. "I see… Is he ready to try to use his box weapon?"

Basil blinked. "I am not sure." Using the box weapon was not on his to-do list, something he had forgotten to include.

"Dame-Tsuna." Reborn leapt in front of the airbike's path. Tsuna gracefully braked before Reborn and jumped off. The airbikes posed absolutely no problems to him.

"Irie gave you a box weapon right?"

Tsuna nodded, pulling the orange box out. The white one remained in his pocked, as he knew that Reborn was not included in the 'we' Sol-nii had mentioned.

"Try opening it."

Rotating the box with his hand, Tsuna lit his Vongola ring and stuffed it into the box.

…

Natsu was absolutely confused and terrified.

The flame felt violent. And while it resembled Tsuna's flames, it was not Tsuna. Natsu confirmed it the moment he went face to face with the unfamiliar person.

Natsu attacked Tsuna.

…

Basil immediately released Alfin the moment Natsu moved. However, against a Vongola Sky lion, the dolphin stood no chance. In fact, it enraged Natsu even more.

The entire base felt Natsu's attack.

Takeshi ran into the training room and instantly pulled out a black box weapon. Stuffing a lot of rain flames inside, a rain coated bird zoomed out of the box, circling around the lion and dosing it with rain flames. Seeing Natsu finally calm down and return to its small form, it returned to its box.

…

"Re-Reborn…" Tsuna slowly looked at the lion, apprehensive.

"Maa maa, don't worry Tsuna, the lion won't hurt you any more." Takeshi walked up to Natsu and picked him up. Natsu cuddled against Takeshi, still very confused and unhappy, but willing to obey. "Haha, this is Natsu. Natsu, that is Tsuna." Takeshi dropped his voice to a whisper. "The Tsuna of this time."

Natsu growled slightly before nudging the black Vongola box. "Gao?"

"Haha, sorry Natsu, she needs some rest." Takeshi put the black box away from view.

"…Reborn, why do I get a lion? Everyone else got harmless herbivores. Don't tell me the lion is the symbol of a boss in the mafia or something."

Reborn kicked Tsuna down. "Dame-Tsuna, all of your guardians did not get 'harmless herbivores'. Hibari would speak to you about that for me."

Tsuna's eyes widened as he saw Kyoya lunge at him with both tonfas. The two of them ran around the room.

Reborn continued to speak as if nothing happened. "The lion is a symbol of being a boss in Vongola, not just any mafia famiglia."

"I can't tame a lion." Tsuna screamed.

"Maa maa, don't worry Tsuna. Natsu will listen to you." Takeshi glanced at the door and sighed slightly. Oh boy, more things for Tomiko to worry about.

* * *

Kyoko and Haru had been near the training rooms when Natsu began his rage. Like everyone else, they hurried to the training room. They made it in time to listen to the entire conversation.

"Mafia…?" Kyoko looked at Haru. "Haru-chan, you knew?"

Haru guiltily nodded. "Haru was told by Bianchi-san… about the mafia and that Tsuna-san was going to be a boss."

"I see." Kyoko turned and walked down the hall.

Haru quickly followed behind her. "Hahi? Kyoko-chan, where are you going?"

Kyoko gave a small smile. "I need to see Kaichou."

…

"Kaichou" Kyoko entered the lab without knocking.

"Kyoko! The last time I drank water was 15 minutes ago. This is a new glass." Shoichi stammered as he glanced at the glass on his table.

"Kaichou. Go drink your water right now." Kyoko watched as Shoichi meekly obeyed. "Kaichou, tell me about the mafia and the Vongola."

Shoichi spat out his water. "W-why would you want to know about the mafia?"

Kyoko took a seat on a chair, clearing another for Haru. "You're part of it aren't you."

"Why would I join the mafia? Haha… Kyoko, did you watch 'The Godfather' recently or something?"

"I see. You're in Vongola?"

"I am inside my lab, not 'vongola'."

"And Tsuna-is going to be the next boss of Vongola."

"Tsuna is more likely to be a police officer than a mafioso."

"Kaichou, just give up. I know already."

Haru looked back and forth at the strange conversation in absolute confusion. She watched as Shoichi gave a deep sigh. "Is that all you know?"

Kyoko pondered over the question a bit. "Well, it seems like Bianchi-san, Takeshi-kun and Inchou are involved as well…" She thought it through more clearly. "Am I the only person in this entire building who didn't know until now?"

"Sorry, Kyoko." Shoichi gave her a slight bow.

"I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan." Haru echoed the gesture.

Kyoko sighed. "Onii-chan is involved isn't he…" She watched as Shoichi nodded. "Is Toku-chan involved as well?"

"Tomiko-chan is not involved with the mafia."

"I see." Kyoko nodded. "And what's happening in a few days? It is obvious that you are all preparing for something."

"Tsuna and the others need to fight against a different mafia famiglia." Shoichi explained it as simply as he could.

"A different mafia famiglia?" She glanced at Spanner, who was typing away, ignoring the entire situation. "Is that where both of you were until you arrived a few days ago?"

"Yeah."

"Kaichou, who do you work for?" Kyoko looked at Shoichi straight into his eyes. Shoichi averted his gaze after a few seconds. Kyoko smiled, satisfied with the answer she got. "Let's go, Haru-chan." Kyoko stood up and walked towards the door, Haru trailing behind in absolute confusion. "Oh right. Kaichou, don't forget to finish your water." She left the room.

…

"K-kyoko-chan… what happened in there?" Haru nervously asked.

Kyoko smiled at her. "Nothing much. Don't worry so much, Haru-chan. Everything will be fine."

* * *

The final few days before Choice was very busy.

Basil and Takeshi continued to train Tsuna. Reborn, Ryohei and Kyoya occasionally joined in.

Kusakabe and Fuuta assisted Shoichi and Spanner in whatever they could.

The girls continued to do whatever jobs that needed to be done. Kyoko spent a lot of time taking care of the boys in the lab.

Hayato spent the time perfecting his System CAI, completely focused on trying to outdo his future self. He even wrote a detailed letter containing all the details, from big things to minor things, that his future self faulted in.

The Varia arrived 2 days before Choice, with Kokuyo arriving shortly after.

Dino finally managed to find the base the day after.

…

Reborn just stared at Leon in slight irritation. "You have to cocoon now, don't you. Couldn't you have done it any earlier? At least, do it where I could be with Dame-Tsuna the entire time." Reborn ranted as Leon just looked at him with a deadpan stare.

In the end, Reborn had to give Leon to Kyoya for safe keeping. The chameleon was useless if it was away from his student.


	39. FA -15- VS 1000Flowers (Foreground)

19 members of the Vongola Famiglia assembled at Namimori shrine on the day of Choice. As expected, a huge holograph of marshmallow appeared in the sky.

"Hey, King Sho-chan~"

Shoichi groaned as Byakuran continued. "You'll need 10 million fiamma volts to be transported to the game board. Have fun~" Byakuran's face disappeared with a flash and was replaced by a huge counter.

"10 million fiamma volts?" Tsuna asked.

Shoichi nodded. "Fiamma volts are the energy of your flames. You will need to shoot 10 million fv at the-"

"EXTREME MAXIMUM CANON"

They were instantly transported to the game board.

…

"Why was that even necessary…" Shoichi complained. The few days spent making that machine was only worth 2 seconds of Ryohei's Maximum Canon.

"Hey, King Sho-chan~" Byakuran flew into view, followed by his funeral wreaths, Lambo and Fran wearing an ice cream hat with a #26 pin.

"Kufufu… little one, what are you doing over there?"

"Shishou, this is revenge."

"Oya oya, for what?"

"I don't know."

A tick mark appeared on Mukuro's head.

"Ushishishi, Oi Froggy, what do you mean 'I don't know'?"

"Shishou made me angry at some point in the past. This is revenge for that time."

Another tick mark appeared.

"Ano… Mukuro-sama…"

"Kufufu… Chrome, don't tell me you want revenge for something I did once as well."

Chrome shook her head. "I… I am not the Vongola Mist Guardian." Chrome handed Mukuro the Mist ring and walked to the 1000Flowers side. She took a uniform and a #96 pin from Kikyo.

"Oi, Stupid cow, why are you on their side as well?" Hayato asked, as he spotted the #L pin in Lambo's hair.

"Hmm~ Would you rather my lightning wreath appear instead?" Byakuran asked.

Memories of a flame vacuum surfaced. Hayato quickly shook his head and backed down.

Byakuran hummed. "Let's start then~ Since you have …" He counted once to make sure he had the right number in mind. "19 people and we have 19 people, let's do a 19 vs 19 match~"

"Eh 19 people?" Tsuna counted the present 1000Flower members 3 times in confusion.

"Marshmallow, where are your 19?" Hayato asked, more annoyed than ever.

"They are back there" Byakuran gestured the buildings behind him. Lambo, Fran and the funeral wreaths walked towards the buildings and left the Vongola's field of vision, joining the rest of the 1000Flowers. "They are just being shy~ Then, let's start." A row of cards appeared in front of Tsuna. "Tsunayoshi-kun, choose."

Tsuna took a card and flipped it over. "Nebbia."

"Alright~" Byakuran pressed a button and the game board morphed. "Now, split into 3 teams of 4 and 1 team of 5. Oh, it seems like you already did~"

Tsuna turned around in surprise. The Vongola did split themselves into teams. Hayato, Takeshi, Ryohei and Kyoya were a team, Xanxus, Squalo, Levi and Bel were a team, Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa and Lussuria formed a team and finally Dino, I-pin, Lizzie, Basil and Spanner formed the team of 5.

"Sol-nii, you're the target?"

Shoichi nodded. "Of course, since you're the leader." Shoichi walked over and picked up his target symbol, pinning it to his chest.

"Good, good. Now, there will be 3 paths" Byakuran gestured the three paths, each numbered. "And the team of 5 will stay at HQ. Each path leads to our HQ, making our respective teams meet at each path. The leaders are free to go wherever they want and the game ends when one of the targets 'die'. Any questions?"

"Um… who is your target?" Tsuna asked.

"Mi-chan." Byakuran raised his voice. "Mi-chan, you agreed to be the target right?"

A bullet whizzed past Byakuran's head. Byakuran smiled, completely unfazed. "Yup, Mi-chan agreed."

"…Is this 'Mi-chan' another Reborn?" Tsuna muttered.

"Dame-Tsuna. I heard that." Reborn's voice suddenly appeared from his headset.

Tsuna jumped. "Hie, Reborn. Don't scare me like that."

Reborn's holograph appeared. He glared at Byakuran. "Marshmallow. Why didn't you block this area from the radiation?"

Byakuran smiled. "Well~ We might have ran out of funds~" He flew away before Reborn could attempt to shoot him.

Tsuna sighed. "Um… well, who is going where?"

"1" Hayato called.

"VOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIII 2" Squalo screamed.

"Kufufu… that leaves us with 3." Mukuro and his team proceeded to walk down path 3.

"Eh? Do we just start?" Tsuna stared at path 3 as Xanxus' team walked past him down path 2.

"Maa maa, Tsuna, the game begun the moment all of the 1000Flowers left." Takeshi laughed. "See, Hibari went off already."

Tsuna looked around, confirming that Kyoya did indeed disappear. The team of 5 had already entered HQ with Shoichi.

"Juudaime, where are you going to go?"

"Uh, I guess I'll join you guys."

"EXTREME" Ryohei led the way down path 1.

* * *

Tomiko, Yuni and Byakuran were peacefully chatting when suddenly Kyoya destroyed the door of their HQ.

"Hello to you too, Hiba-kun~"

Kyoya stormed into the room and handed Tomiko a brown backpack. She took it, confused, and attempted to unzip it. She was stopped by Kyoya's hand.

"What is this?" Tomiko stared at Kyoya in absolute confusion.

"The baby's pet."

Tomiko's eyes widened. "Leon?! Why is Leon here?" She paused before shrieking inwardly. "Did Leon cocoon?"

"Hn. Irie made that backpack. It blocks out all sound and auras from inside." He paused as he watched Tomiko ignore absolutely every word he just said, too happy that Tsuna was finally getting his own weapon. Her spiky black canary with a dash above it's beak shared her excitement, flying around the room.

Kyoya didn't. He swung his tonfa at Tomiko with irritation, who dodged on reflex.

"Hm~ Then all I need to is make Tsunayoshi-kun fully ready, don't I?" Byakuran hummed. "This will be fun."

Kyoya glared at him before once again swinging his tonfa at Tomiko. She dodged, setting the backpack gently onto the floor. Her yellow canary flew off her shoulder. Kyoya swung at her again, aiming at her yellow canary with his other tonfa.

Tomiko sighed. "Is there anything else that you would like, Kyoya?"

"The herbivores." Kyoya swung his tonfa at her yellow canary once more and smirked at Tomiko. "Then you."

"Yuni-chaaan, Hiba-kun doesn't want to play with me" Byakuran whined. He dodged a tonfa.

"…Kyoya, they are waiting outside. Oh they are only allowed to use common weapons. I'm the same."

"Hn." Kyoya stepped over the remains of the door on his way out.

Both Tomiko and her yellow canary sighed.


	40. FA -17- VS Byakuran

"Oho, Byakuran-sama, Sawada did join team 1, as you have predicted." Kikyo reported from the roof.

"Hmm, of course~" Byakuran leaned back, holding the communicator to his mouth. "Bluebell, he's yours. Don't tire him."

"Awww k." Bluebell grumbled. "Why do I get the boring one?"

"You lost to rock-paper-scissors, idjit." Zakuro kindly reminded her.

Bluebell stuck her tongue at him and flew off.

* * *

"Mermaid! Mothman! Medusa! And… I have no clue what you are…" Tsuna stared at the dark red skinned Zakuro.

"Juudaime. They aren't UMAs. They are just regular people." Hayato looked highly disappointed.

"Maa maa… we still need to fight them, don't we?" Takeshi patted Hayato's back.

"EXTREME"

"Che. I know." Hayato stepped away from Takeshi's reach. "Oi. Why are you using your carnage boxes already?"

"Oho. Isn't it more fun this way?" Kikyo flew to Hayato. "Byakuran-sama wants us to play."

Hayato growled, mumbling curses to marshmallows, as he went to 'play' with Kikyo. Takeshi and Zakuro headed off to do the same. Ryohei paired himself with Torikabuto.

"So I get the mermaid?" Tsuna beamed with curiosity. "Hi" He waved at Bluebell.

As for Bluebell, she was highly annoyed. Finger pulling down her cheek, she stuck her tongue at Tsuna. "Booooo. So boring. You are so boring. Bluebell is so bored." She began to throw a tantrum midair but abruptly stopped. Zooming down at Tsuna, she hit his shoulder. "Tag. You're it." She flew off.

Tsuna chased after her. So this was what they would be playing, it seems.

…

"Hmm~ Bluebell looks like she's having a lot of fun."

"Shiro-chan, get down and help us." Tomiko pulled her body double onto the sky pedestal. It was a sandbag with an illusion casted around it to look like Tomiko. Tomiko rearranged it so that the sandbag was faced down. "Who's idea was it to chain 'me'?" She asked, shaking the chain around the sandbag into a better position.

"Byaku-nii's. He said it would be more realistic this way." Yuni walked over to the sandbag, hiding her communicator in her mask. She too was chained.

"Seriously…?" Tomiko sighed as she helped Yuni shift the chains for comfort. "I thought only Mukuro and Kyoya liked stuff like this."

A tonfa was pressed against Tomiko's neck seconds later.

"Liked stuff like chaining people when they are captured." She quickly clarified, not sparing a glance as the tonfa or its wielder.

Tomiko felt a glare as the tonfa was removed from her neck. "Do not compare me to the marshmallow or the pineapple."

Kyoya got no verbal response. Tomiko remained silent, holding in her retorts that he and Mukuro were very similar and Shiro-chan wasn't that different either. He glared at her even harder, as if reading her mind.

"Well anyways… we are almost done, aren't we?" Tomiko looked around the sky pedestal to make sure. Her yellow canary flew around the area once before landing on her shoulder, chirping in affirmative. She nodded and watched as Kyoya place an illusory barrier device around the sandbag and Yuni. Turning it on, they disappeared from view. Tomiko nodded in satisfaction and pressed a remote switch, turning the illusory barrier back off.

"Yup~ good work, good work." Byakuran flew to them and placed the brown backpack next to the sandbag. He took the remote control from Tomiko. "There, all done~ Mi-chan, we are finished~"

"Herbivore. You did nothing." Kyoya growled.

"What are you talking about, Hiba-kun. I did a lot of work, I kept watch for you~" Byakuran dodged a tonfa.

Tomiko sighed. "Kyoya, let's go." She left the sky pedestal, her 7 other birds flying after her. Kyoya huffed and followed her out.

Watching them leave, Byakuran pulled out his communicator. "Bluebell~ We are ready. Lead Tsunayoshi-kun over~" He put the communicator away after hearing a 'roger'. Byakuran hummed. "I wonder if this Tsunayoshi-kun would be as fun as Mi-chan."

"Byaku-nii, is Sawada-san like Mi-nee?" Yuni asked, having never met or seen him before.

Byakuran hummed. "We'll see."

* * *

Tsuna followed Bluebell into the sky pedestal. Achieving her goal, Bluebell flew off as fast as she could to get a good view of the battle. She fired a beam of rain flames at the sky, to signal that Tsuna had entered the sky pedestal.

Shoichi saw the rain flames and turned on the cameras around the sky pedestal and the screens across the entire game board, allowing every single person to watch the battle no matter where they were.

When the screens turned on, everyone stared at it, not amused.

Tomiko gave a face palm as Kyoya raged beside her. "Shiro-chan… did you have to wear that hat again…?" She muttered in exasperation.

Yuni giggled softly back at her through the communicator. "Byaku-nii really wanted to wear the hat again."

"…I see."

…

"Winged marshmallow." Tsuna exclaimed, staring at the literally winged figure with a marshmallow head flying in the air.

"Hmm~ This would be our first official meeting." Byakuran flew closer to Tsuna. "Hmm…" He circled around Tsuna twice, examining him in detail. "Hmm…"

"Uh… Marshmallow-san, what are you doing?"

"Hmm…" Byakuran flew back to his original position. "Go, go, white dragon~" A white dragon charged at Tsuna, who dodged in shock and confusion.

…

Back at the HQ, Tomiko gave a huge face palm as Kyoya was growing more and more irritated by the second. Takeshi and Zakuro had joined them in the HQ a few minutes prior, all four of them staring at the screen.

"Haha… Miko, what is Byakuran doing?"

Zakuro answered for her, seeing that she was in too much shock to actually speak. "Byakuran-sama is testing him, idjit. He said to 'leave Tsunayoshi-kun to him'."

Tomiko groaned. "No… Shiro-chan is absolutely winging it." They watched as the white dragon charged at Tsuna again. "Shiro-chan was never the type to plan anything."

"Byakuran-sama is strong enough to not need plans, idjit."

"The marshmallow herbivore just wants to disturb peace." Kyoya growled, having learned the hard way that Byakuran and plans do not mix. "I will bite him to death."

"Maa maa… Miko, how are you feeling?" Takeshi walked up to and place a hand over her forehead, injecting some rain flames into her.

"I'm fine… You and Basil did well in training Tsuna." Tomiko smiled as Tsuna activated Mantello di Vongola Primo.

Takeshi removed his hand, satisfied that Tomiko seemed well enough for now. "Haha, we've tried our best."

"Still a herbivore. He will not last much longer against the marshmallow."

"I know. It's up to Shiro-chan now."

…

Byakuran hummed. It seemed that the gifts from the 1st generation Vongola responded to this Tsuna as well. Then again, Tsuna had everything needed to activate it. "Not bad, not bad. However," the white dragon swung around and hit Tsuna's side "Not fast enough." The white dragon returned to Byakuran.

"Hmmm~ Tsunayoshi-kun, can you get any stronger?" Byakuran flew down. "It gets boring when my opponents are weak." Byakuran paused for a second to pull off his marshmallow hat. He ruffled his hair into place, hugging the hat with his free arm. "Sorry about that, it was getting stuffy in there."

"Eh? Robots get stuffy too…?" Tsuna muttered, unable to produce a louder voice due to fatigue.

"Anyways, someone said that 'motivation' would unlock potential, so tah dah~" Byakuran pressed the button on the remote, dispersing the illusion and revealing both Yuni and the sandbag cosplaying as Tomiko. "Motivation~"

The response was instantaneous. Byakuran clapped the X-burner into dust, still hugging the hat. "White applause. Hmm~ it seems like Tsunayoshi-kun is finally taking this seriously."

As for Tsuna, he ran forward in attempts to approach the two girls.

"Sorry, Tsunayoshi-kun~ I can't let you get any closer." The white dragon charged at Tsuna, who was forced to step back to defend himself.

Tsuna glared at Byakuran. "What did you do to Toku-nee?"

"Nothing, nothing at all~" Byakuran smiled back, watching Tsuna's flames grow more violent by the second. "Well, maybe I did do something. But I won't tell you~"

Tsuna shot another X-burner at Byakuran. Byakuran narrowed his eyes. "Is that all you can do?" He flew higher. "Tsunayoshi-kun. If you are a sky, why are you rooted to the ground? Are you unable to fly?" Byakuran flapped his wings twice to mock him.

Tsuna gave Byakuran a death glare, who smiled it off. "I am the sky, not a bird. What did you do to Toku-nee?" He demanded.

"If you defeat me, I might tell you~"

…

Yuni gave a silent sigh. Byaku-nii really needs to start planning. And take negotiation classes. She really can't bring herself to get angry or scared at Tsuna, seeing him fire X-burner after X-burner at Byakuran enraged. It was undeniably Byakuran's fault after all, as he was egging Tsuna's anger non-stop. However, she was getting worried at how the attacks were moving closer and closer to her. Luckily, or unluckily, she was distracted by the other end of her communicator.

There was a thump sound and Yuni could hear Takeshi call worriedly at Tomiko. Yuni widened her eyes, turning to Byakuran and Tsuna in an instant.

"Sawada-san! Please stop." She yelled in vain. Tsuna was too caught up in his emotions to hear her.

Fortunately, Byakuran wasn't. Hearing her loud and clear, he instantly tried to surrender. "Whoa, whoa. Tsunayoshi-kun, time-out for a second." He raised his hands and flew towards Tsuna. "I'll surrender."

It didn't work. Byakuran had to quickly dodge another X-burner.

"Wait. Stop." Byakuran ran through as many pacifying phrases as he could through in head before realizing that he had absolutely no clue what to say in this situation. He really shouldn't have relied on Tsu-kun to do all of his negotiations in the past.

Both skies of the Tri-ni-sette flailed, uncertain what they should do. In the process, they both began to activate their sky barriers subconsciously.

A strong sky flame suddenly appeared and circled both Byakuran and Yuni, calming them down. It traveled to Tsuna. "Why did you want to grow stronger?"

At the soothing voice, calming aura and familiar question, Tsuna snapped out of his rage, flame disappearing from his forehead. "I… I want to protect my family."

Vongola Primo materialized before Tsuna, holding the Leon cocoon. "Protect you shall." Tsuna took the cocoon as the X-gloves on his hand disappeared in a burst of sky flames. Giotto patted Tsuna on the head. "You are strongest when you protect. Do not forget that." Closing his eyes, Giotto turned into sky flames, circling Tsuna one last time before disappearing.

Leon exploded in Tsuna's hands, producing a pair of brass knuckles. Putting them on, Tsuna lit them.

Tsuna lit them with flames of wrath.

Flexing his fingers once, he moved to attack Byakuran.

"Wait." Byakuran held out both hands at him. "Tsunayoshi-kun, calm down. I did nothing to your Toku-nee. See," He pointed to the figure on the ground. "That is an illusion." The figure became a sandbag. "But good job though, for getting a new weapon and seeing your ancestor~" Byakuran spewed whatever came to mind first. "And so you won~ Good Job~ :) And Sho-chan will send you all back to the past now~ Right, Sho-chan?"

Back at the Vongola's Choice HQ, Shoichi blinked twice and picked up his communicator, absolutely confused. He heard a clear voice from the other end.

"Herbivore. Now."

Shoichi instantly activated the time machine.


	41. DA I -4- FON

Fon caught the first plane to Namimori after receiving Reborn's phone call. Hibari Tomiko. He had most definitely never heard of her and after briefly checking with Kyoya's parents, he learned that Kyoya had essentially adopted her.

It was natural for anyone to be shocked to learn of that fact. Hibari Kyoya, the epitome of being an antisocial loner, had actually actively made someone live with him. Being curious was an understatement. Even the patient Fon had been urging the plane to travel faster. He had to forcefully calm himself down by dumping water over his head, after meditation actually failed for him. Lichi was highly amused at her master's behaviour, laughing at him non stop.

Finally, Fon arrived at the Hibari residence. He was immediately attacked by Kyoya. Fon looked at him, slightly confused. After years of reconciliation facilitated by Sawada Tsunayoshi, Fon had gotten off of Kyoya's bite-on-sight list.

"Kyoya, I just want to meet Hibari Tomiko." Fon tried to placate.

Kyoya glared at him. It seemed that Hibari Tomiko was the reason why he was acting hostile towards Fon.

"I talked to your parents already. I just want to meet her in person."

Kyoya blinked. If Fon went that far, he really had no choice but to let Fon meet Tomiko. He didn't want his parents in Namimori any time soon.

Huffing, Kyoya led Fon into the Hibari residence.

…

The first thing Fon noticed was the atmosphere. It was gentle and calming, in contrast to the empty, lonely atmosphere in the past. While there were no extra decorations or furniture visible, the vibe was still very different. It was partially due to the smell of food floating from the kitchen.

Fon's stomach responded to the smell. Luckily for him, it seemed that Kyoya was headed for the kitchen.

"Tomiko"

Fon blinked in surprise. Kyoya called someone by their first name. But then again, Fon couldn't imagine Kyoya calling Tomiko 'Hibari' all day…

He quickly walked after Kyoya to get a glimpse of Tomiko.

"Kyoya" A girl came into view. She looked down. "A guest?"

Kyoya gave a grunt in annoyance. "Granduncle."

Tomiko slowly nodded. She bent down to Fon's eye level. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you." she held out her hand to him.

Fon smiled and took the hand. "I am Fon. This is Lichi." Lichi squealed. "I've been curious after hearing about you from Kyoya's parents."

Tomiko scratched her face. "Ah…"

Kyoya chose to cut in. Or rather, he walked forward, forcing Tomiko to stand up to move out of his way, to the dining room table. Dinner was already set up on the table.

Tomiko looked back at Fon. "Fon-san, why don't you eat as well? I'm sure there's enough for you."

Fon nodded in gratitude. He walked to the dining room, noting there were two large bento boxes and a yellow canary eating a huge chocolate cake on the table.

Tomiko laid out utensils and a stack of pillows for Fon, who thanked her. He noticed that he did not lay out utensils for herself.

"Tomiko-san, are you not eating?"

"I ate while I was cooking. I need to deliver dinner to some friends." She gestured the two large bento boxes.

"Forgive me for asking, but why are you wearing a mask?"

"I am sick…"

Fon nodded and decided not to pry. "How long have you been living with Kyoya?"

"… 7 years?" She looked at Kyoya.

"Hn." Almost 8.

"Wow, that's quite a long time-" Fon was cut off when Tomiko suddenly turned towards the door. Kyoya reacted to Tomiko's sudden movement and moved to stand.

"Kyoya… it's fine…" Tomiko walked towards the door, yellow canary ditching the cake for her shoulder. "Excuse me, Fon-san." She disappeared from sight.

A few minutes later, they heard a loud thump.

Both Kyoya and Fon rushed to the door.

…

Shoichi was frantically apologizing to Tomiko. There was a large box beside him on the floor, which seemed to have made the sound when it fell. Both Tomiko and Shoichi were on the floor. They had bumped into each other as Tomiko opened the door right when Shoichi was about to crash through it.

Shoichi blabbered on, head dazed and unaware of his surroundings. "Tomiko-chan! I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you that I finished making a new flame barrier that I wanted you to try it so I reached for my phone then I realized that it was out of battery so I went to charge it then I saw that you sent me a message and I tried to read that but I accidentally deleted it so I tried to hack into my phone to recover the message then I noticed a storm flame heading here so I ran to check because it did not look like Gokudera-kun's and-"

Kyoya threw a tonfa at him.

Shoichi looked around in confusion and finally noticed Fon. He instantly grabbed his stomach. "…sorry…"

Tomiko sighed. "Shoichi, would you like to join us for dinner?"

Shoichi weakly nodded.

…

5 minutes later, all four of them were in the dining room. Tomiko laid out one of the bento boxes in front of Shoichi, which was evidently meant for him. The box Shoichi was carrying was left in one of the sitting rooms. The bird returned to the cake.

Tomiko gathered her own utensils and took a seat next to Kyoya. There was no point in hiding anymore. It was safer to just come out clean to Fon. She took off her mask and unpinned her bangs.

Fon analyzed the scene and nodded in understanding.

"Please keep this a secret, Fon."

Fon smiled. "Of course I will. I'm sure that I owe you enough favors to help you hide it from everyone else. Reborn especially right?"

Tomiko sighed and nodded. "Thank you Fon." She turned to Shoichi. "Shoichi, I'm not mad. It's alright. We will just need to reorganize our communication methods. It's not your fault that we were rushed due to Reborn's earlier arrival." Shoichi still looked guilty. "Isn't it better that our mistake caused Fon to discover us instead of someone else? It could be a blessing in disguise. It's really alright, ok?" Shoichi nodded, still guilty but determined to fix their communication methods.

"How long are you staying, Fon?" Tomiko refocused her attention to Fon.

"Reborn called me to find out more about you." Tomiko nodded, they had figured it was the case. She had called Kyoya the moment she felt Fon's flames. (She had called Shoichi as well, but his phone was dead so she sent him a message instead) "I will leave after I give a report to Reborn."

"You won't… meet I-pin?"

Fon blinked then smiled slightly. Tomiko was indeed Sawada Tsunayoshi of the past. "No, I will leave before then. However, I believe I will able to meet her again much sooner than before. Thanks to you, I have much more freedom from the Triads." One of the things Fon made sure of after rebirth was that he would not be stuck in the Triads like last time. Sawada Tsunayoshi had managed to give Fon enough leverage to bail him out in the past, but it had taken a lot of time, resources and effort to do so. This time, Fon fought for his own freedom.

"Who is that bento box for?" Fon asked, pointing to the other box.

"It's for Chrome."

Fon blinked. "Dokuro-san is here? Reborn never informed me." Fon had no flame tracking abilities and his information from Reborn stated that only the sun, rain and cloud guardians were here and in contact with this Tsuna.

"We set Chrome up with flame barriers. She is living near Kokuyo."

"Flame barriers? Like that box Irie-san brought with him?"

"Yeah… would you like to try it?" Shoichi asked. Fon agreed.

"I need to deliver this to Chrome." Tomiko stood up, putting away her dishes. It was Kyoya's turn to do the dishes. She grabbed her mask and pins, setting them on her face, yellow canary returning to her shoulder having finished the cake. "Fon, are you staying here tonight?"

Fon looked at Kyoya for permission. Kyoya hned in assent. Fon nodded.

"Shoichi, are you staying here tonight?"

Shoichi blinked before slowly nodding. He was already here and it was getting dark.

Shoichi and Fon headed into the sitting room to test the flame barrier while Tomiko and Kyoya prepared to head to Chrome's to deliver dinner. Tomiko had informed Chrome earlier that she would be a little late delivering dinner.

* * *

The two walked towards Kokuyo.

"The baby?" Kyoya inquired Reborn's location.

"Sawada Residence."

Kyoya nodded.

"You know, it might actually be a good thing that Fon found out." Tomiko pointed out.

"As a distraction to the baby." Kyoya was still not pleased with the situation.

"In the original timeline, Fon did not appear until the representative battle."

"He did not appear before Sawada Tsunayoshi until the representative battle. He has appeared in Namimori before that multiple times."

"Really?" Tomiko was very surprised.

"I believe he was spying on his student."

"I see…" Tomiko sweat dropped at the information but she supposed that Fon had reasons why he could not openly approach I-pin.

…

They reached Chrome's place shortly after. Chrome let them in after a single chime of the doorbell.

"Chrome… Fon found out. He's going to help hide it from Reborn."

Chrome nodded, glancing at Kyoya for an explanation of how Fon found out.

"Irie." was all Kyoya provided her, but it was more than Tomiko ever will.

Tomiko gestured them to forget about the past. "Hayato should arrive soon."

"Storm-san hasn't arrived yet?" Chrome was surprised. She thought that he would board the first plane to Namimori the moment Reborn left.

Tomiko closed her eyes to check. "Nope, hasn't arrived yet."

"The herbivore will probably be here in a few hours."

Tomiko nodded, sighing slightly at the thought of the paperwork that might come with the arrival of the storm. "Reborn hasn't noticed you yet, according to Fon." Chrome nodded at the information. The flame barriers were indeed working. "Any words from Mukuro?"

Chrome shook her head. "Mukuro-sama hasn't spoken to me since. I believe he's currently in contact with the Vindice."

"Alright. Good night, Chrome."

"Good night, Tomiko-sama, Cloud-san."


	42. DA IV -2- Recovery (Awake)

Author's Note:

I just realized Chrome used a spear, not a trident  
So she will use a spear from now on…  
I will change it from my previous stuff later. I'm too tired…

-1458

* * *

The first thing Tomiko sensed was pitch black.

Tomiko was completely exhausted, both her body and her soul. However, both found sudden energy upon sensing the absolute darkness. She fretted, opening her eyes with as much strength as she could muster and stared at the ceiling through a crack in her eyes. It was a plain white, giving no indication of where she actually was.

There was a rustling sound. Tomiko's Hyper Intuition went haywire, mixed with confusion, anxiety and fear. She knew there was someone else nearby but she couldn't _see_ who it was. Tomiko panicked.

A cold metal tonfa was suddenly pressed against her neck. Tomiko never knew that she could this happy to be attacked by a tonfa. "Tomiko. You are back to the present. As with every other herbivore."

"…Where… ?" Tomiko muttered softly, slowly calming down from her state of panic.

"Hibari Residence. Your room." Kyoya removed the tonfa slowly. "Every flame barrier has been activated. You will not be able to sense flames." Kyoya watched as Tomiko nodded, completely relaxing. "Rest. Or I will bite you to death."

"k…" Tomiko fell back to sleep.

"Hn." Kyoya sighed. What a troublesome omnivore. He walked back to the chair on the other side of the room and picked up his paperwork, which consisted of hospital bills, continuing where he left off before Tomiko woke up.

Chrome ran into the room seconds later, having easily sensed Kyoya's shift in emotional state. She looked at Kyoya then at Tomiko then back at Kyoya. "Tomiko-sama woke up?"

"Hn." Just.

Chrome ran to her bedside and stared at Tomiko's sleeping face. She turned around to face Kyoya, completely heartbroken. "…Tomiko-sama woke up seconds after I went to the bathroom?"

"Hn." Basically.

Chrome moped in the corner. That bathroom break was the only time she left the room all morning.

* * *

Tomiko woke up to the sound of cups clanging.

"Oh sorry, did I wake you up?"

"…Fon?"

Fon walked into her field of vision. "Are you feeling alright?"

Tomiko stretched. "Yeah. I'm still a little tired but I think I am fine now." She sighed. "How long was I asleep?"

"Today would be the fourth day since we've returned from the future. The first time you woke up was yesterday."

"3 days…" She muttered, displeased.

Fon sighed. "3 days is an amazing rate, considering your condition when you first returned." He chuckled softly. "You were the one who warned them not to 'push their limits too far'. I'm sure they would say the same back to you."

Tomiko grumbled. "Where are they anyways?"

"Kyoya is at school. Dokuro-san is in the bathroom-"

As if on cue, Chrome burst into the room and ran to Tomiko. "Tomiko-sama!" She collapsed beside Tomiko, sobbing. Fon smiled and quietly left the room.

"Chrome, I'm alright now." Tomiko smiled softly as she comforted Chrome, slowly sitting up. She wiped a tear off Chrome's cheek. "You should get some rest. I will be fine."

"Hai, Tomiko-sama." Chrome replied, though she did not even bother to budge.

"…Chrome." Tomiko sighed in exasperation, rubbing the pair of eyebags on Chrome's face. "When was the last time you've had some proper rest?"

"Last night." Chrome lied.

"I am aware that my Hyper Intuition cannot sense flames, however that does not mean that I can't sense anything else." Tomiko sighed. "You should go get some sleep."

"…But…"

"Fon will take care of me, and Mukuro." Tomiko looked at her door.

"Kufufufufu… So you can still sense me, it seems." Mukuro materialized in front of it and walked towards them. "Oya oya, my dear Chrome, you should listen to Tomiko-chan and get some rest."

Seeing both Tomiko and Mukuro gang up on her, Chrome had no choice but to meekly obey. Standing up, both mists headed to a spare bedroom.

…

Tomiko was sorting her thoughts in silence when suddenly the window rattled and slid open. A familiar figure with fluffy brown hair entered her room. She stared at him in absolute confusion before slowly piecing everything together.

"… Byakuran helped you?"

"A bit." The figure smiled at her.

Tomiko sighed. "And I thought that Kyoya was the only one who had the habit of entering through windows."

He chuckled at the statement. "Haven't you also developed that habit?" He walked towards Tomiko and patted her head. "How are you feeling, Tomiko?"

"I'm fine now. Doesn't your Hyper Intuition tell you that?"

He hummed. "Just making sure. The flame barriers are throwing my HI off." He shrugged slightly. "If you want to sense flames again, just enter Hyper Dying Will Mode. The barriers are weaker than my HDWM. It worked for me, so I'm sure it will work for you." He looked at Tomiko with a serious expression. "Tomiko. I know this is not my place, but would you leave… Sawada Tsunayoshi to my guardians and I?"

Tomiko was shocked at this proposal. "Eh?"

"And his guardians as well. I'm sure my guardians would have... fun with them."

Tomiko laughed slightly. "I doubt half of them would be happy to meet yours and vice versa." Specifically Hayato, Kyoya and Mukuro. "But alright. Do whatever you want. You didn't need to ask me for my permission to do so."

He smiled. "We are not supposed to be here, remember. This is your realm." He turned and walked back towards the window. "One more thing. He will arrive here soon."

Tomiko nodded. "Alright. See you."

"See you later. Take care."

* * *

"You'll be as good as new tomorrow." Shamal checked Tomiko over one last time. "You still have your insane healing speed and endurance." He grumbled.

Tomiko laughed. "Thanks Shamal."

He shrugged. "I'll treat you any time." He grabbed her hands. "Call me-"

A spear, a trident, a sword and a pair of horns forced Shamal to move away from Tomiko.

"Kufufu… I believe you are done here." Mukuro pushed Shamal out of the chair and took his seat.

Lambo jumped into Tomiko's bed, letting Tomiko comb his hair with her fingers.

"Tomiko-sama… Cloud-san gave this to me…" Chrome handed Tomiko the locket.

Taking it, Tomiko groaned slightly. "Kyoya took it from Tsuna?"

"Maa maa, Hibari didn't use any force. Don't worry."

Tomiko had doubts but decided to drop the subject. "Takeshi, how are you feeling?" Tomiko asked, looking apologetic.

"Haha, I'm perfect~" Takeshi laughed, ruffling Tomiko's hair. "No need to worry, alright. Focus on recovering."

"Alright…" Tomiko smiled softly.

There was a long moment of silence.

Tomiko narrowed her eyes, noting how they obviously had something to say to her but was unable to for some reason. "Is there something I need to know?"

Takeshi turned towards the ceiling, Chrome to the floor, Lambo to the wall and Mukuro out the window.

Tomiko looked at Shamal, noting how he was slowly inching to the door.

Sighing, Tomiko ordered. "Speak."

All 5 of them froze.

Fon was the one who rescued them, entering into the room carrying a tray of tea and setting it down on the table. He glanced around the room, easily deducing what was going on. He sighed slightly and decided to sacrifice himself.

"Tomiko-san. I believe you were unconscious when Sawada-san awakened his flames."

Tomiko nodded. "Yes I was. Is there anything wrong with Tsuna's flames?"

"…" Fon sat on the edge of the bed. "Rather than a problem, per se, it is more like… an unexpected outcome."

Blinking, Tomiko patiently waited for Fon to continue.

"He has Sky flames, as we all had expected. However, his sky flames have a slight inclination to the storm attribute." Fon, as with every other person in the room, braced himself for the reaction. "Sawada-san has wrath flames."

"**What.**" The single word hung darkly in the air.

Fon cringed but said nothing, knowing that repeating what he just said wouldn't help the situation at all.

Tomiko processed what Fon said once more. Her eyes shining orange. "Shamal."

"He does. I checked." Shamal reported, half way out the door.

"Wrath flames." Tomiko repeated slowly, words laced with venom.

Everyone did not dare meet her eyes.

Tomiko took a deep breath, holding her emotions under control. "That's impossible. Tsuna is a direct descendant of Giotto. Verde confirmed it."

"Verde did another blood test to double check and came up with the same results." Fon quickly stated. "However, Sawada-san has…" He cut himself off, just to be safe. "That was why we are all confused. We were hoping that you might have an explanation." Fon paused, seeing Tomiko think hard.

Tomiko bit her lips slightly before shaking her head. Her eyes reverted to her natural gold.

Fon nodded, willing to give more details now that Tomiko was visibly relaxed and ready to accept reality without frying anything. "I see. Verde, Irie-san, Spanner-san, Gesso-san and Xanxus-san are currently investigating the wrath flames in more detail."

Tomiko blinked. "Spanner?"

"Span-nii arrived yesterday." Lambo explained. "He apparently planned the trip even before he received Sho-nii's time travel bullet."

Tomiko smiled slightly. "That's good." She sighed. "Tsuna has wrath flames." Holding her head, she closed her eyes. "How is everyone else reacting to that?"

"Kufufu… the Arcobaleno… reacted negatively." Mukuro paused. "He took down an abandoned building in the next town." At least he was calm enough to do it in the next town, out of Namimori property.

"Hayato…" Takeshi dropped his smile with a small sigh. "He cried." And it was obvious that he had cried for the entire night, as his puffy red eyes the next morning were highly visible.

"Ryo-nii had been very quiet for the past few days." Lambo had never felt so conflicted around Ryohei, happy that he didn't get his ear drums blasted but worried due to his silence.

"Chiavarone-san returned to Italy… He was very confused." Dino had a meeting waiting for him in Italy. Chrome felt his confusion and stress very clearly.

"I see…" Tomiko sighed.

"The Varia are on standby, as well as the Funeral Wreaths back in Italy. We informed them of your current condition already, including the people back in the lab." Takeshi looked at Tomiko. "Is there anything you want us to do?"

"No… I think we all deserve a break. Besides, I am sure that Reborn will act very soon. Let him make the first move."


	43. PA -7- Childhood of the Sun 2:2

_Tsuna:5_

Hibari Kyoya and Sasagawa Ryohei always had a mutual understanding. Kyoya would not bother with the herbivore's club and allow him to continue his loud runs while the Ryohei would not barge into Hibari's personal life unless necessary. That was one of the reasons why the Ryohei did not approach Hibari Tomiko until a month after she had settled in.

Sasagawa Ryohei had approach the DC room an hour after school ended. Kyoya was forewarned by Tomiko's intuition. They agreed to tell the Ryohei that "Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories". It was a true blessing that Sasagawa Ryohei has not previously approached the Tsuna, not causing any complications to the Tsuna's growth. Knowing the loud herbivore, he would not approach the herbivore any time soon, at least not until he enters school.

When Ryohei barged into the room, he was extremely surprised. He had heard of the extreme rumors about the 'angel of Namimori' and had expected an extreme girl. This one was extremely small and hidden. Ryohei didn't care though. It was extreme that she was able to convince the extreme Hibari anything.

"Hibari!" Ryohei shouted in his normal voice.

Both Hibaris looked at him. Kyoya tched. "Loud herbivore." he 'greeted' back.

Ryohei turned to Tomiko and walked towards her. Tomiko politely stood up.

"You must me Hibari's extreme relative. I am Sasagawa Ryohei to the extreme. I am extremely pleased to meet you." he grabbed Tomiko's hand and shook it furiously.

Tomiko gave a sheepish smile under the mask and gave a small nod. "I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you too, Sasagawa-san." She briefly wondered if she would be asked to call him 'onii-san'.

"You are extreme! Call me Onii-san! A relative of Hibari is an extreme relative of mine!" Ryohei insisted.

Kyoya wacked Ryohei's head with a tonfa. "Loud herbivore, she is older than you." he deadpanned.

"Then extremely call me Ryohei!" Ryohei continued.

"Um then Ryohei-san?" Tomiko was at loss how to handle him. She knew he would not stop until he was satisfied. In this aspect, all of the guardians were the same…

"NO. An extreme person like you should extremely call me Ryohei to the extreme."

"Ryohei-kun?" Tomiko was glancing at Kyoya for help. He did not look any happier with this situation.

"EXTREME!" Ryohei punched the air. Tomiko took it as a sign of agreement.

"Um, I need to go… so, I'll see you later, Ryohei-kun." Tomiko gave a short bow and glanced at Kyoya before booking it out of the room. She prayed that the aftermath of the room did not result in a lot of paperwork. Luckily, she would not need to worry about hospital bills, as Ryohei was hard to damage, even if the attacker was Hibari Kyoya. His body healed much faster than other people, as the property from his flame transferred over to this body. Sparing a final prayer to the survival of the room, she went to meet Tsuna in the park like usual, her birds flocking her.

After watching Tomiko exit the school gate, Ryohei sat on one of the couches, facing Kyoya who sat on the opposite one. Kyoya started the conversation. "Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories."

"I know." Ryohei mused. "I encountered him a few times during my extreme jog." he explained.

Kyoya was a bit surprised that the loud herbivore had actually figured it out already. That makes his job much easier. "Don't approach the herbivore until he befriends your sister."

Ryohei nodded with understanding "So I just need to extremely wait a year. Kyoko will start school next year after all." He paused. "Your relative… did you change the timeline for her?"

Kyoya glared at him. "You changed your timeline." he gave a glance to the corner of Ryohei's head. The scar was missing. He would have had it by now in the original timeline.

"I am extremely not blaming you! I am just extremely curious. I extremely don't remember you ever having a relative that's all." Ryohei touched the spot of where the scar would have been, frantically trying to deny the accusations from his fellow guardian. He had indeed altered his timeline. He didn't want to see Kyoko cry like that again.

Kyoya grumbled, trying to think of a proper response. "I made Tomiko to stay." that was the only change he did to the timeline. "The other herbivores changed their timeline as well." It was not a prediction. It was a statement. It would be hard to resist the temptation of changing the timeline when it was so easily within their grasps. However, Kyoya was almost positive that his change was the greatest 'change'. Tomiko being born differently was out of her control after all.

Ryohei nodded in agreement. "Are you going to extremely wait for the extreme Reborn to extremely retrain Tsuna?" He wanted to start jogging with his extreme little brother again.

Kyoya shook his head. "I will start with the herbivore after we meet." he already planned out this part with Tomiko.

Ryohei nodded happily then suddenly paused. "Does your extreme relative know how to extremely fight?"

Kyoya froze. He had actually overlooked checking Tomiko's fighting prowess. It has surely transferred over. The thought of fighting her was already stirring his blood. "She is sick." he simply states, itching to get to the dojo in the Hibari residence.

"She is extremely sick!? I will extremely try to heal her later." Ryohei had gone into the medical field in the past.

Kyoya shook his head in impatience. He needed to get rid of the annoying herbivore as soon as possible. "No need." he stood up. "Leave." then he all but tossed Ryohei out the door.

Sasagawa Ryohei had unknowingly forced Tomiko into the fate of sparring with Kyoya regularly. Thankfully, they set rules of not using flames and took the sparring into a clearing in the forest, causing little paperwork from the damage. This was part of the reason why Kyoya had mellowed down when biting herbivore to death.

* * *

_Tsuna_:6

"E-excuse me." Kyoko slid the door open slowly. She had heard the abundant rumors of the demon of Namimori and was praying on every star that she would not encounter him. Kyoko was lucky.

Tomiko left her desk to walk over to Kyoko. She had sense Kyoko passing by the DC office on multiple occasions and was curious to what she needed. "Hello, I am Hibari Tomiko. Pleased to meet you."

"I am Sasagawa Kyoko…" Kyoko slowly regained more courage. "You are the 'Toku-nee' Tsuna-kun speaks of, right?"

Tomiko nodded. "Yes I am… is there something you need?"

"Ah um…" Kyoko looked straight at Tomiko's face. "Can you make me stronger?"

Tomiko blinked multiple times, having never expected that to come out of Kyoko's mouth in a million years. It turns out, all she needed to do was wait a timeline. "…May I ask… why?" Tomiko led Kyoko to the sofa.

Kyoko sat down across from Tomiko. "My onii-chan… he loves to fight. He really likes the fighters who hit each other with oven mittens in just their boxers. He watches them on TV and in the gym all the time. He even has a punching pillow in his room. But… he never joins them. Papa tried to sign him up for one of them, but onii-chan never went. Papa thought that onii-chan was being shy… but onii-chan would never be shy."

Tomiko nodded wholeheartedly. The word 'shy' and Sasagawa Ryohei would never fit together.

"I did not understand why onii-chan never played what he liked the most. Until I learned about you." Kyoko looked up at Tomiko. "Your family, demon-san, fights a lot. He is even teaching Tsuna-kun how to fight. But he is teaching Tsuna-kun how to fight because it's dangerous. It is dangerous when you are close to someone who fights a lot. Bad guys will go after you."

Tomiko blinked at the interpretation. Thinking through it once, she realized that it was pretty close to the truth.

"Bad guys never go after you though. Even though you are not learning how to fight like how Tsuna-kun is." Kyoko gave a determined look. "I do not want to fight. I don't like it when people are hurt. But I want my onii-chan to be able to do what he loves the most. So I want to know how to be strong like you. I want to be strong without needing to fight. Can you make me stronger?" She begged.

Tomiko ran the options through her head. Sasagawa Kyoko would be involved in the mafia no matter what precautions Tomiko took. It would be inevitable, since her brother will become a Vongola guardian. Kyoko would be exposed to the mafia and be in constant danger. However, if Tomiko used this opportunity properly, she can prepare Kyoko for the darkest of the mafia and prevent her from ever losing her smile.

"I will try my best. I am not very sure how to, but I will try." Tomiko held her hand out for Kyoko. "I'll teach you all I can. I look forward to working with you, Kyoko."

Kyoko gratefully took the hand. "Thank you very much, Toku-chan."

…

And so Tomiko taught, and continued to teach, Kyoko everything she could think of that did not involve fighting. From management to negotiation to cooking. Kyoko soaked in the information like a sponge, very determined to do her best. Ryohei knew of Kyoko's relationship with Tomiko. While he was a bit surprised, he accepted it with opened arms, happy that Kyoko was happy.

Tomiko and Kyoko took a 'break' every 3rd Sunday of the month to have a tea party at the Hibari Residence, continuing the tradition until the transition between Namisho and Namichu. Occasionally, Kyoya, Shoichi, Chrome and/or Kusakabe joined them.

* * *

"Kyoko." Tomiko put down her paperwork.

Kyoko looked up from the paperwork Tomiko gave her. "Yes, Toku-chan?"

"I have a close friend who is transferring to Namisho. He is going to be the Kaichou of Namisho after he arrives. He is very capable of doing everything, except for taking care of himself." Tomiko rested her head in the hand away from her yellow canary. "Would you do me a favour and look after him?"

"Of course, Toku-chan." Kyoko smiled. "I will do my best."

Tomiko smiled back. "Thank you. I'm sure you will be able to learn a lot of things from him."

…

"Shoichi, this is Sasagawa Kyoko. She will take care of you."

Shoichi blinked. "To-tomiko-chan… I'm not a dog…" He complained.

As for Kyoko, she instantly understood why Tomiko asked her to take care of him. "Irie-san… Are you even eating properly? Do you even get enough sleep every night? When was the last time you combed your hair?"

"Ah, um… yes, yes and yesterday."

"Kyoko, don't listen to him. Shoichi lies all the time." Tomiko walked to her desk in amusement. It seems like Shoichi would be finally forced to clean himself up properly.

Kyoko nodded. "Irie-san, I will take care of you from now on." She smiled. "I look forward to working with you."

…

It was just as easy making Kyoko the vice president as making Shoichi the president. Kyoko was given the student council room as her office, in which she slowly spent more and more time in. During her last year of Namisho, Kyoko took over as president and did an excellent job, though with a cost.

In the end, Tomiko succeeded. Kyoko was untouchable in Namimori, whether it be by children or adults. No one wanted the DC, SC, King or the Hibaris after them.

Ryohei was able to freely indulge in his boxing passion and even started competing.

* * *

Sasagawa Ryohei was surprised at Irie Shoichi's sudden appearance. He was not particularly surprised at the fact that Irie transferred to Namimori. Shoichi lived in Namimori and had memories, so placing himself closer to Sawada Tsunayoshi was almost expected if not for the fact that it affects the original timeline.

He was surprised at the fact that Irie entered Namimori famed as a genius and the childhood friends of the Hibaris. As far as he was concerned, the two groups never had any interaction as children, much less be childhood friends. Ryohei did not do anything about it though. There must be a reason why Hibari would bring Irie into the scene this way.

Ryohei watched as Shoichi's reputation grew amongst the school and city. He became a proxy for the Hibaris and became a figure other students depended on. Hibari Kyoya took care of security, Hibari Tomiko helped the staff and administration while Irie Shoichi did everything else, whether it be teaching or inventing things. Due to Shoichi's versatility, he was quickly crowned the 'king of Namimori' and was the face of most of its operations. In fact, if people were to notice carefully, the name 'Hibari Tomiko' was slowly disappearing from official documents and being replaced by the name 'Irie Shoichi'.

Shoichi also had a very positive effect on Sawada Tsunayoshi. Tsuna would watch Shoichi in awe and concentration whenever Shoichi had to speak publicly and took all of his words seriously. Shoichi was the 'solution' after all. In relation to this, Tsuna's performance in school improved. He took all of his academic problems to Shoichi and worked hard to impress Shoichi. To Tsuna, Shoichi was a role model. Tsuna had never knew that a person could be strong in a different way from Hibari-niisan and onii-san. Shoichi's existence proved that strength comes in many forms.

Unfortunately, Tsuna could not understand strength deeper than accomplishments. Everyone, even Ryohei, noticed this fact. Shoichi wanted to attempt to show Tsuna that failure is a form of strength as well, but was quickly dissuaded from the idea. Shoichi was Tsuna's 'solution'. By having the 'solution' fail, the child's understanding of the world would suffer too much. It was a risk they rather not take. This posed a problem. None of the major figures of Tsuna's life were currently capable of teaching Tsuna about failure. In the end, they decided to wait for a solution to come instead of forcing one.

Ryohei noticed the sudden halt in the process of the strengthening of Tsuna's resolve. He did nothing about it, having full trust that Hibari had the situation under control, and continued to focus on strengthening Tsuna's stamina. He, however, had thought of asking Hibari about the situation many times. Unfortunately, Ryohei's mental endurance was approaching its limit. He was known for hotheadedness after all. It was an amazement that he actually lasted this long without bothering Kyoya for answers.

What broke the patience limit was when Ryohei realized that Irie Shoichi's appearance benefited Hibari Tomiko more than Sawada Tsunayoshi. He crashed into the DC office within a minute after that thought.

"HIBARI" Ryohei shouted as he slammed the door open.

Hibari Kyoya was already halfway across the room from his desk to the door when Ryohei arrived. They heard Ryohei stampeding the moment he started. "What" Hibari growled.

"WE EXTEREMLY NEED TO TALK"

Kyoya glared at him. He glanced back into the room once before stalking out the door.

Ryohei followed after him, door left open.

...

Kyoya led them to the roof. He closed the door after Ryohei entered and walked to the center of the roof.

"WE EXTREMELY NEED TO TALK"

"What…" Hibari growled once more.

"Irie. Why is he extremely here?"

"Irie is useful…" Hibari deadpanned. Was the loud herbivore blind?

"Since when was Irie your extreme childhood friend?"

"… We knew each other in the past"

"OH! I didn't know that you extremely knew each other in the past."

Hibari gave no response to that statement.

"Hibari. Is Irie here for your extreme relative or for Tsuna?" Ryohei did not get a response.

"Hibari… you know what your priorities are, right?" Ryohei received a glare. A deadly aura began radiating from Kyoya.

Suddenly, the Namimori Elementary Anthem rang in the air. Kyoya instantly calmed down and picked up his phone. Giving the caller a grunt, he put the phone away. Sparing Ryohei one last glare, he exited the roof, gently closing the door behind him.

Luckily for everyone, Ryohei accepted Kyoya's response. Tomiko was spared from paperwork and Ryohei was spared from a visit to the hospital. Even with the activation properties of the sun flame, being attacked by any angry Vongola guardian would result in a lot of pain, much less the strongest Vongola guardian of many generations.


	44. DA IV -3- SASAGAWA RYOHEI

There was a knock on her door. "Tomiko-san, you have a guest." Fon called.

Tomiko looked up from her paperwork, slightly surprised that she was getting a visitor. "Come in."

Spanner slid the door open. "Yo." He gave her a wave.

Blinking three times, Tomiko made a confused facial expression. "Shoichi?"

"Yeah." Spanner shrugged and walked to her desk and took a seat on an empty chair beside Tomiko. "Though that locket was how I found out." Spanner glanced at the locket on the counter.

"…You opened it?"

Spanner put a spannerpop into his mouth. "Eventually. Shoichi modified it?"

"Verde as well… you still managed to open it in the end though."

"Got lucky." Spanner pulled a box out and handed it to her. She opened it, staring at the contents.

"Apparently you aren't Vongola Decimo this time so I didn't put the X's on them." Spanner explained lazily, leaning back.

Tomiko took the headphones out and looked at the bird engraved on each side. The contact case also had a bird engraved on the top. "Thank you, Spanner."

"Thank me when I perfect them. They are still protocols." He paused. "I work for Shoichi."

Tomiko blinked and nodded, confused as to why he would say that all of the sudden.

Spanner pulled his spannerpop out of his mouth. "I work for Shoichi. So whoever Shoichi works for will, by extension, be my boss. I am not mafia born. You can't use the rings, oaths or blood against me." He returned the spannerpop into his mouth.

"…" Tomiko groaned slightly. "How much did Shoichi tell you?"

"Enough. Wasn't that hard to figure out the rest, seeing how all of the ring bearers are acting."

"They will accept Tsuna eventually. It's not like they all accepted him at first. It takes time to develop bonds."

Spanner shrugged. "It's none of my business what the Vongola does if my boss is not involved with them." He looked at Tomiko with stoic eyes. "Are you involved?"

Tomiko refused to give a response.

"Are you going to visit the lab soon?" Spanner swapped the topic for Tomiko, knowing it would not go anywhere otherwise.

Tomiko silently thanked him. "Maybe later today or tomorrow. I still need to deal with this pile first." She gestured the paperwork. "Spanner, where are you staying?"

"Your mansion."

"Did you claim a room already?" Tomiko asked, having partially expected this outcome. There were tons of empty rooms available anyways.

Spanner nodded, face giving away nothing. Tomiko knew better though.

"… I'll give you a room later. Please stop sleeping in the lab." She sighed. "A room beside a bathroom, right? And near Shoichi's as well."

Spanner gave her a thumbs up. "By the way. Nice mansion."

Tomiko smiled. "Thanks. It was a gift from my parents. Shoichi had a lot of fun modifying the entire place."

"Yeah. He showed me." Shoichi had excitedly given Spanner a long detailed tour around the entire thing before Spanner arrived went to the Hibari Residence. "Is there an underground entrance here as well?"

"Kind of… Kyoya didn't want Shoichi to accidentally destroy part of the Hibari Residence so we compromised and placed an entrance in the forest area behind the house." She gestured the area outside her window. "It's somewhere behind that wall. It is well hidden." She paused. "I think it's still faster if you walk to the lab above ground from here though."

Spanner shrugged. "I'll take the long way."

"Alright. I'll show you where it is." Tomiko glanced down at her paperwork. "Oh right, do you need to transfer to Namichu or did Shoichi do the forms already?"

"I graduated."

"Oh I see… wait, what?" Tomiko stared at Spanner. "Aren't you the same age as Shoichi?"

Spanner shrugged. "I graduated from University but not middle school."

Tomiko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Did you hack into the school or make a false identity?"

"Both."

Tomiko sighed.

* * *

There was a knock on her door. "Tomiko-san, you have a guest." Fon called for the second time today.

Tomiko looked up from her paperwork, surprised that she was getting another visitor. "Come in."

Kyoko slid the door open. "Toku-chan, how are you feeling? Kaichou told me you were sick for the past few days."

"I'm better now, Kyoko." Tomiko smiled. "Thank you for worrying."

"Of course I will worry. I'm glad you're alright now." Kyoko smiled and sat on an empty chair beside Tomiko.

"How was school?" Tomiko asked, sorting out her paperwork.

"Kaichou kicked Inchou out of school a few days ago but everything is alright now."

Tomiko would have done a spit take if she was drinking something. "Shoichi did what to Kyoya?!"

"Ah… kicked out isn't really the right term." Kyoko looked thoughtful for a moment before giving a smile. "Kaichou put Inchou under house arrest and sentenced him to do the paperwork he caused."

"Wha?" Tomiko was at a complete loss of words. "What happened?"

Kyoko smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, Toku-chan, everything has been taken care of." Kyoko patted Tomiko on the back. "Toku-chan, tell me about the mafia and Vongola."

"HA?" Was Tomiko's intelligent response. Kyoko had rendered her brain dead. Reborn would have been proud.

"Oh, sorry. Was that too soon?" Kyoko patted Tomiko on the back again and handed her a glass of water. She patiently waited for Tomiko to recover.

"…Kyoko… you are poor for the heart." Tomiko muttered.

"Toku-chan was the one who taught me diplomacy, remember~" Kyoko smiled.

"It seems like I did a very good job." Tomiko sighed and straightened herself. "Shoichi?"

"Yup. Kaichou did well at first, but slipped in the end." Kyoko sighed. "For some reason, I couldn't see through his 'Tomiko-chan isn't involved with the mafia' lie."

"Shoichi had been practicing that lie ever since we've met." It was the one lie Irie Shoichi would never slip on even upon death, something that gained Kyoya's respect. "How much do you know?"

"Tsuna-kun is the boss of Vongola and that most of the other people are involved, including onii-chan."

Tomiko nodded and proceeded to explain the ring and guardian system and the structure of Vongola to Kyoko, summarizing the history and the general operations of the Vongola as well.

Kyoko silently listened until Tomiko was finished. "Toku-chan, you are aware of what happened in the future, right?"

"Yeah. I went to the future as well. I just stayed somewhere else."

"Were you with that 'enemy famiglia' Tsuna-kun and the others had to fight against?" Kyoko asked, piecing everything together.

Tomiko nodded. "The boss of that famiglia is my friend." She paused for a second. "Well, technically, it isn't they aren't a famiglia. Or at least in this era." The Gesso group did not reform a mafia famiglia after the 'future arc' of the original timeline, instead joining the Giglio Nero as a subdivision. Similar to how the Varia is a subdivision of Vongola. Tomiko was certain that Byakuran would do the same this time as well, and has probably already done so.

Kyoko clapped her hands together in glee. "I knew it~" She smiled. "Ah… Toku-chan, you aren't related to the mafia only through your friend, right?"

"I am part of Vongola, but not exactly at the same time." Tomiko tried to explain, as she was slightly confused herself of where her standing was. "I am hiding from people related to Vongola… and others related to the mafia."

Kyoko nodded, silently vowing to herself to never slip about Toku-chan, just like Kaichou. "I am also a bit curious about Reborn-kun, Lambo-kun, I-pin-chan and Fon-kun."

"Lambo and I-pin are regular kids but they are mentally adults… Reborn and Fon… they are also mentally adults, but they can't grow up…" Weighing her options, Tomiko decided to brief Kyoko about the flames of the sky and the Tri-ni-sette after drilling it into Kyoko's head how she must never speak of the information to anyone.

"I have a role in the Tri-ni-sette… to a certain degree… at least in the past…"

"Toku-chan has the flames as well?"

"Yeah." Tomiko opened her palm, letting a small sky flame dance above it. "This is the Sky flame."

Kyoko stared, mesmerized. "You can roast marshmallows any time you want~"

Tomiko sighed, remembering how Byakuran would randomly barge into his office in the past to demand for some of his sky flames for roasting marshmallows. Something about how marshmallows roasted with Tsu-kun's flames were the best. Personally, Tsuna couldn't tell the difference…

"Do all the flames look the same?" Kyoko asked, wondering how they would be able to determine who had what flame.

"No… every flame has a different colour and different properties." Tomiko pulled out the ring from Lancia and removed the Mammon chain. "This is the storm flame." Focusing her resolve, a red flame lit from the ring. "I don't have any other rings so I can't show you the rest but I'm sure you would be able to easily figure it out."

Kyoko nodded. "How about Tsuna-kun?"

Tomiko bit her lip. "Tsuna has… a variant of the sky flame. Having the sky flame is a requirement to be a boss in Vongola."

"Is Tsuna-kun really the boss of Vongola?"

Tomiko shook her head. "Not yet, but he will be."

"So he would be onii-chan's, Inchou and other people's boss?" Tomiko nodded slowly in slight confusion at the strange question. Kyoko gave her a determined look. "He will never be my boss. I will only listen to you." Kyoko quickly clarified herself. "I mean, I respect Tsuna as a friend… but I can't see him as a boss. He is not boss material." Kyoko stabbed Tomiko in the heart with that one statement.

"… Kyoko… I've been trying to turn Tsuna into 'boss material' ever since I've met him…" Tomiko muttered, dejected.

"Oh. Sorry, Toku-chan."

* * *

"Hime-sama." The entire disciplinary committee bowed deeply before her. Tomiko could see tears flooding down some of their faces. "We are so glad you are back."

Tomiko's gape was hidden by her mask. She turned to Kusakabe. "…Tetsuya-san, what happened?"

"Hime-san." Kusakabe also gave her a slight bow. "…Inchou thoroughly disciplined everyone."

"…" Tomiko swore in her mind, tallying the paperwork.

"Ah but everything is taken care of. Inchou did all the paperwork." Kusakabe quickly added. "We are just glad that you are alright now." While Tomiko was human and had gotten sick on multiple occasions in the past, never once has she been unconscious for more than a day. And never once had she left Kyoya 'loose' for so long. Tomiko mentally promised herself that this would never be a repeat occurrence.

"…Are you all… alright?" She asked, noticing the concealing makeup on many of the DC members. The others had visible bruises and cuts. Kusakabe himself looked like he was hit by a train then poured paint all over his face to hide it.

"… We are so glad you are back."

…

When Kusakabe said 'everyone', Tomiko thought that it was just the members of the DC. She was wrong.

"H-hime-sama" The principal wailed, crying shamelessly upon seeing Tomiko. It wasn't just the principal. Almost every student and staff Tomiko passed by were reacting similarly, albeit less dramatically. For the amount of wounds on everyone, Tomiko found it very surprising that the school was completely unscathed. So apparently Kyoya still had enough self control to keep the school standing.

Tomiko stopped in front of the DC office at the sight of Chrome. She was standing in front of the opened door, just staring inside.

"Vermei… is something wrong?" Tomiko walked up to her.

"…Tomiko-sama…" Chrome stepped slightly aside to let Tomiko peer inside. "… Ano… I believe they are all get well gifts…"

"…" Tomiko just stared. "How did so many get inside? Wouldn't Kyoya throw a fit?"

Chrome shook her head. "Cloud-san… has not stepped inside school property ever since…" Chrome refused to speak any further.

Tomiko sighed. "Vermei, would you please help me sort that out?"

"Hai, Tomiko-sama."

Tomiko later realized that whatever one day terror Kyoya set upon the school was quite long lasting. There were absolutely no disturbances during the time none of the three rulers were present, and by the looks of it, peace would continue for a while.

In the end, Chrome had to enlist the help of Ken, Chikusa, Lancia and Kusakabe to get everything out of the room. (The rest of the DC were too traumatized to step even within 3 meters of the DC office, even when they knew the demon was not within it. That was how the gifts managed to pile up in the first place.)

* * *

Tomiko sat in the couch, sorting her paperwork, when the door was knocked. "Come in."

Ryohei slid the door open and shut, quietly sitting in the couch across from her. "I would like to extremely talk to you."

Putting down her paperwork, Tomiko looked at him with a smile. "Of course, Ryohei-kun. Thank you for waiting until now."

"You knew." He shook his head slightly. "Of course you extremely knew." He looked at her. "I extremely thank you as well. Thank you for taking care of Kyoko."

"There was no way I would just leave her." Tomiko watched as Shibird flew into the room through the other door and onto her hand. "Shibird? Are you taking a break?"

The bird nodded at her. Flying to her shoulder, he whispered something to Tomiko. "…I see. Thank you."

Tomiko turned to Ryohei. "Sorry for the interruption."

Ryohei shook his head. "No need. I am just extremely glad that you aren't going to deny anything." Tomiko let him continue. "You are… Tsuna aren't you."

"Yes… I have the memories of Sawada Tsunayoshi of the past, as you have figured out many years ago." She paused. "I am sorry… you were waiting for me to tell you, for many years too."

"I would have extremely waited for longer, but…" Ryohei drifted off. Tomiko understood though. The wrath flames.

Ryohei stretched with a slight roar, weight lifted from his shoulders. He smiled widely. "Am I extremely last, Miko?"

Tomiko smiled, taking her mask and pins off, setting them on the table. "No… There's still Hayato."

"Haha, Tako-head was extremely always the slowest." He laughed shamelessly.

Shaking her head slightly, Tomiko sighed. "He will find out soon, considering how he had been eavesdropping for the entire conversation."

Ryohei turned to the door, noticing the silver hair sticking out from the side of the window. "Oi, Tako-head, eavesdropping is not extreme."

"Ryohei, can you step out of the room for a moment? I would like to talk to Hayato alone." Ryohei nodded and, after giving Tomiko a hug, walked towards the other door.

**For his true sky, Sasagawa Ryohei will be patient.**

Thanking Ryohei, Tomiko turned to the door. "Shibird, can you go tell Shoichi to call the others?"

Chirping, the bird flew out the window for the lab.

"You can come in now, Gokudera Hayato."


	45. DA IV -4- GOKUDERA HAYATO

The appearance of Tsuna's wrath flames was equivalent to a meteor wiping out all the dinosaurs in Hayato's world.

Hayato cried.

He knew. He knew that Tsuna would never wield wrath flames, no matter how many timelines or parallel universes he goes through. No matter what he experiences. Which clearly meant one of two things.

Either UMAs abducted Juudaime and altered him.

Or a more likely possibility:

Tsuna was not Tsuna.

And so Hayato cried. His beloved Juudaime either did not get reborn or was lost somewhere between space and time. In any case, whatever the reason, it was very clear to him. Sawada Tsunayoshi was not here.

Hayato did not get any sleep that night.

* * *

"Hayato!" Takeshi ran up to him and patted Hayato's back. Takeshi was surprised to see him walk towards the school alone, later than usual. "Yo, you're alone today?"

Hayato glared at him with puffy red eyes. Without sparing Takeshi a response, he quickened his pace into the school.

Takeshi sighed. Scratching his head, he stepped forward but stumbled. He would have fell if Kyoko and Hana weren't nearby to steady him.

"Takeshi-kun, are you alright? You look very tired." Kyoko quickly used her hand to check his temperature. It didn't seem like he had a fever. However, the tone of his skin was paler than usual and his eyes were very clouded.

"Monkey, if you are sick, stay home. Don't bring germs to school." Hana complained.

"Maa maa, I'm completely fine. I'm not sick at all." Takeshi straightened himself but stumbled again once more.

"Takeshi-kun, please go home for today. I'll tell the teachers and ask onii-chan to help you." Kyoko pulled out her cell phone and proceeded to call her brother. Takeshi was too tired to protest and allowed Ryohei to silently drag him home. Kyoko and Hana then proceeded to the SC office to tackle the mountain of paperwork. Tomiko had asked Kyoko to take some of the DC paperwork so Tomiko could spare more time to handle the growing complaints about the Jinshintou Gumi.

…

Hayato was very surprised when the teacher announced that Yamamoto Takeshi would be absent. Hadn't he just seen Takeshi a few minutes ago? He stopped thinking about it, however, after what the teacher's said next.

"Irie-kun called in this morning informing us that Hime-san is unwell."

The entire class froze. Some froze due to knowing what was inevitably going to happen. The other freezing in confusion about the weird announcement.

"Hibari-san is in early morning patrol." The teacher reassured. He then outlined the safety protocols as quickly as he possibly can, eying the school gate every other sentence. Everyone was to either freeze or slowly move the other direction at the sight of Hibari Kyoya. Students were to move alone and never in groups or even pairs. Do not make a single noise whether Hibari Kyoya was insight or not. The classroom was considerably safer than the halls or the school yard, but it was recommended that students left Namichu property as soon as possible, if they could.

This was the only time that teachers would ever recommend students skipping school. Too bad it was too late now, as the cries and screams from the school yard indicated.

Students were already praying to every god they knew.

…

Contrary to his attribute, Hayato managed to stay completely out of Kyoya's way and came out of the school the same condition he went in. It was partially due to his very subdued and unenergized state. The rest of it was due to Kyoya pitying him upon seeing Hayato's red puffy eyes.

Gokudera Hayato was one of the rare few who received no trauma at school that day.

After slowly getting over his depression (or after he recovered enough to be able to function properly again), Hayato did what a right-hand man should do, checking with the rest of the family to see how they were faring.

Or he tried to.

It wasn't like the other guardians were trying to avoid Hayato. It was purely unintentional, as they were worried about Tomiko and wanted to get to the Hibari Residence. However that did not change the fact that Hayato was not able to hold a conversation longer than 5 words before they began to scurry off. Takeshi, Lambo and even Mukuro were too preoccupied with going somewhere else, Ryohei was deathly silent the entire time and Hayato couldn't even locate Kyoya or Chrome.

After a few days of futilely trying to figure out what was going on, he spied Ryohei heading towards the DC office.

…

Ryohei slid the other door open and turned to Hayato with a teasing smile. "Tako-head, you should extremely stop being a statue." Then he turned and walked down the hall.

Completely out of it, Hayato slowly slid the door in front of him open and promptly burst into tears.

"Hayato…" Tomiko gave a small sigh and smiled. "Come here." Seconds later, her shoulder was soaked. Patting his back, she waited for Hayato to stop, which didn't take long considering how he had already cried himself dry a few days prior.

"You've been crying a lot lately…" Tomiko muttered.

Hayato groaned. "That baseball freak told you?"

"Mm."

There was a moment of silence as Hayato slowly separated himself from Tomiko. Wiping his face roughly with his arm, he pouted at her. "Why does the baseball freak know before I do? No wait, everyone else knows don't they?" He did not even give her time to respond before continuing his rant. "Am I not good enough as your right-hand man for you to tell me?"

"Maa maa… Miko didn't tell any of us. We kinda figured it out on our own." Takeshi laughed as he entered the office, followed by all of the other guardians and Shoichi. Shibird flew off Shoichi's shoulder and onto Tomiko's dry one.

Hayato turned to them violently, glaring at them all before stopping at Kyoya, who was leaning against the far wall. "You damn Skylark…" He growled.

Kyoya returned the gesture with a highly smug smirk.

"Kufufufufu… eavesdropping. Such dog like behaviour." Mukuro sat on the couch across from Tomiko.

"As if you were any better, Pineapple." Hayato spat back.

"Oya oya, what are you talking about, puppy?"

Takeshi laughed, taking a seat next to Hayato. "Actually I think eavesdropping is better than accidentally getting trapped in your own barrier and forcing Miko to save you."

"Kufufu… Yamamoto, it was no accident. It was planned."

"…Mukuro-sama…" Chrome managed to resist the urge to face palm as she quietly sat beside Mukuro.

Lambo jumped into Chrome's lap. "Probably still better than Hibari-nii's."

Shoichi carried his chair to the group. "Hibari-san, how did you find out anyways?" Everyone turned to Kyoya, who shrugged.

"…" He barged into my house and attacked everyone inside… Tomiko silently complained. "Oh right. Kyoya, what happened a few days ago?"

Tomiko did not receive a response.

"...Shoichi?"

"Tomiko-chan, don't worry about it. It has been completely taken care of."

"..." Tomiko stared at him then at the other people in the room, who all seemed to be actively avoiding that subject and her gaze.

Lambo, oblivious as to what happened, decided to help save the situation anyways. "I'm surprised Ryo-nii didn't find out any earlier."

"It was extremely unnecessary, until…" Ryohei sighed. "Tsuna has wrath flames."

There was another brief moment of silence.

"Shoichi, any luck?" Tomiko asked.

Shoichi slowly shook his head. "Sorry, Tomiko-chan…"

"Kufufu… if Sawada Tsunayoshi has wrath flames, that makes him no different from Xanxus."

"Sawada has Vongola blood… Xanxus-san doesn't." Chrome countered. "The rings… did not reject him."

Hayato agreed. "If anything, they might call… Juudaime… the second coming of Vongola Secondo."

"Tsuna is extremely not like the second." Ryohei pointed out, recalling his limited knowledge on Secondo.

"Weak herbivore."

"Reborn will shape Tsuna into a proper mafia boss regardless." Tomiko stood up and walked towards the window. "Speaking of which, Hayato, would you please keep me a secret from everyone?"

"Reborn-san especially." Hayato continued. "I will."

**For his true sky, Gokudera Hayato will sacrifice his morality.**

"Thank you… I will need to go now. Reborn is heading this way." Tomiko turned and walked away from the window.

"Eh? You can sense him?" Shoichi asked, concerned that the flame barriers weren't working.

Tomiko patted Shoichi's head. "Your barriers are fine. I sensed Reborn's dark aura, not his flame. More like, all I can sense is his aura... It's overpowering everything else." She took her mask and pins off the table and set them on her face, grabbing her paperwork on the way out. "I'll going to the lab. Sorry and good luck with Reborn." She slid the door closed behind her.

The other guardians slowly felt Reborn's drowning aura as he headed closer and closer to school. Shoichi hugged his stomach, Lambo was on the verge of crying and everyone else was frozen stiff. Kyoya walked towards his desk and sat down to do some paperwork, acting like nothing happened and a murderous baby wasn't heading this direction.

Hayato shivered. "You all are going to hide it from Reborn-san as well, right?"

Mukuro clenched his trident as he tried to relax himself. "Kufufufufu… would you rather die of Arcobaleno or of Vongola?"

"… Arcobaleno."

"Kufufu… exactly."

…

Reborn swung the DC door opened. "Oi Hibari-" He paused as he looked at the other people in the room. "Oh you're all here." Reborn muttered, annoyed that he wasn't able to sense them due to the flame barriers. "What are you doing?'

"We were holding a meeting about Juudaime's flames." Hayato responded professionally.

Everyone tried to ignore the growing killer aura. "I see." Reborn turned to Shoichi. "Irie. Any luck?"

Shoichi meekly shook his head, arm tightening around his stomach as he bit down any verbal complaints in fear of annoying a trigger happy hitman.

Reborn grumbled. "I see." He gave a small sigh. "Well it's good that you are all in one place. Saves me time." He looked around the room. "I am going to Italy to do some flame research. I'll be back in a week. Hibari, I'm leave Dame-Tsuna's training to you." Without even waiting for a response, Reborn left.

* * *

"Mi-chan~" Byakuran flew to Tomiko with a hug. "Sorry…" He muttered.

Tomiko shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Shiro-chan."

"Humph. Brat, so you're still alive." Xanxus received a bright smile in response. He sighed.

"Any health complications?" Verde looked around his desk for some files.

"Nope. Shamal gave me a final checkup this morning. I'm in perfect condition." She turned to Spanner, who was playing around with his recently completed Mini Mosca. "Did you settle into your room yet?"

"Yeah."

"… Spanner, let's get you settled into your room." She walked over to him and dragged him out as he hugged his Mini Mosca. Byakuran followed, flying behind them. "Shiro-chan, you are staying in the room assigned to you right?"

"Yup~ Thanks Mi-chan~ It's perfect."

Tomiko nodded. "Of course, Shoichi prepared it."

Byakuran smiled, flapping his wings happily. "King Sho-chan knows me so well~" It had everything Byakuran desired, high ceilings, lots of light, and a very white interior. He even dug Ranbot out of the lab and brought it into his room, much to Shoichi's horror."Oh right. Mi-chan, I took another room for my cocoon."

"…The cocoon actually works?" Shoichi had made a cocoon from scratch just to see if he could. Byakuran quickly put it to use after he discovered it.

"Yup~ Let me show you. It grew~" Byakuran made a childish gesture, spreading his arms widely.

"… No… I'm good…"


	46. PA -16- Childhood of the Storm

It was obvious what Gokudera Hayato would change. So obvious, that everyone else changed it for him before he was even born.

The moment Shamal found Gokudera Lavina pregnant, he informed Reborn who put her under the protection of Vongola Nono. Poor Lavina did not know what struck her until she was well hidden from the mafia world. If Shamal wasn't a good friend of Lavina and Reborn wasn't renown, Lavina would have long attempted to escape. It took both Shamal and Reborn a long time to convince her that her disease was curable and her son would much rather stay with her instead of living under the riches of the mafia. They eventually made a deal with her, Lavina would remain hidden until she gave birth to her son and if her son desired to leave they would let them leave.

Lavina didn't know her fate was sealed the moment she agreed with the bargain.

Gokudera Hayato was born with a mother-complex. He refused to let her out of his sight and would cry endlessly until he could spot her again. Reborn and Shamal found the entire process hilarious and filmed it. To Lavina's surprise, he never expressed desire to leave. He didn't even want to leave their living space to explore the rest of the mansion. Lavina thought it was just a phase and he would develop his curiosity eventually. She couldn't be any more wrong.

At the age of 3, Hayato's daily activities consisted of playing the piano, snuggling against Lavina, engaging in conversations with Reborn and Shamal, and staring out the window at the sky. When Lavina asked him if he wanted to go outside, he merely shook his head. Reborn and Shamal had told him about the bargain and he was eternally thankful for it. He was also eternally thankful for his Juudaime for granting him the opportunity to meet his mother, to see her alive and see her continue to live.

Eventually, Lavina grew anxious at her child's lack of curiosity. Upon asking Shamal, he told her to confront her son about the issue and that it was perfectly normal for Hayato to act this way. That was when Lavina learned that her son had been reborn from the distant future, a future in which she was already dead. As unbelievable as it sounded, Lavina believed her son. In fact, it would explain a lot of his behaviour. She accepted the fact that her son would do anything to keep her alive and away from his father's famiglia. Speaking of the man, Lavina had stopped thinking about him the moment Hayato had been born, more than satisfied with her life.

As Lavina slowly learned more about Hayato's past life, she came to the realization why her son would stare out at the sky for long periods of time, why he would scoff at the rain, growl at the clouds, insult the lightning, cover his ears at the sun and yell at the mist. He must really want to see his friends, she thought. However, Hayato denied any desire to leave when asked.

When she consulted Reborn about her son's behaviour, he laughed at her. Then he reminded her of their deal and told her that her son knows of it. Lavina couldn't be anymore moved. She convinced her son that she would never leave him, to his father's famgilia or otherwise. At this reassurance, Hayato left their living quarters for the first time in 8 years to perform piano to Vongola Nono as gratitude for saving his mother.

Hayato continued performing piano to the mafia (specifically the Vongola and allies), now happy that he does not have to eat poison cooking before playing and pleased with the knowledge that his mother was watching proudly at him.

* * *

Gokudera Hayato had his first kill at the age of 9, barely a year after he began to interact with the outside world.

He did it for his mother.

They were careless, wandering too close to the slums of Italy and attracting the attention of a drug addict. Seizing the opportunity, the man held a knife across Lavina's throat, demanding the child money. Hayato, in turn, took out the handgun Shamal had given him a few months prior, saying that he should at least carry some form of protection on him. Hayato had snapped at him while taking the gun, saying that he would never lead his mother into a situation where he would need to use it. Now, Hayato was grateful for Shamal's brilliant foresight.

It was a clean hit. The man didn't even know he died before his body slumped backwards and knife fell onto the ground with a sharp clang.

That was Lavina's first experience with death.

Normally, Hayato would clean up after himself, specifically disposing the body properly and hiding his tracks. However, at one look at his mother, he knew they shouldn't stay here much longer.

Lavina visibly flinched when Hayato approached her.

He froze, before closing his eyes with a sigh and turned around, slowly walking out of the alley after he was sure his mother was following him. Hayato called Shamal after they reached the main street. Shamal took care of the body for him.

The walk back to the Vongola Mansion was deathly silent.

…

Hayato went into 'mourning'.

It was a tradition they made in the past. Whenever anyone had their first kill, they would wear a black accessory and a ring on their left little finger. Reborn was the one who implemented the custom. It was expected for Mafioso to kill, no matter how many precautions there were to avoid it, it would still eventually happen. Even Tsuna.

Tsuna never fully recovered from his first kill, entering a state of serious depression and refused to speak to anyone for days after. He holed himself in the corner of his room until Reborn barged in and forced him out to meet his family. Tsuna widened his eyes at the scene.

His entire family wore a black accessory and a ring on their little finger. They refused to take it off until Tsuna, even when Tsuna begged them too. They refused to take it off until they deemed that Tsuna was fine again. It forced Tsuna to sort out his feelings, knowing that everyone was waiting. Thanking everyone after he regained his composure, Tsuna thought that it would be a once in a life-time occurrence, like everyone else. He was wrong.

Every kill was a 'first' to Tsuna.

And his family was there to support him every time.

…

Hayato went into mourning for 27 days. He stared at the sky from beside the window, only leaving to go to the bathroom.

Lavina silently watched Hayato. She truly realized that Hayato was what he said he was, being much older and a Mafioso once in the past. She realized the gravity of the mafia.

* * *

_"Sawada Tsunayoshi has no memories. Follow the original timeline."_

The announcement came a few days after Hayato stopped mourning.

…

He cried.

Lavina, for the first time in a month, approached her son and hugged him until he stopped. Even if Hayato had the memories of an alternate future, he was still a child. The fact that one of his closest friends had 'left' him was too much for him to handle. Too much for him to keep his feelings buried inside.

…

Hayato scoffed at the newspaper Shamal handed to him. "Damn Pinapple. Causing so much problems for Juudaime."

Shamal shrugged. "I don't think Decimo would be angry about Estraneo… considering how they involved the Vindice and went through proper procedures."

"Che. The Estraneo is the least of my worries." Hayato growled. "The crazy pineapple will definitely go overboard."

"Hmm? Is this one of your friends?" Lavina sat down beside Hayato, who stiffened slightly.

"…Yeah…" Hayato muttered. Suddenly his eyes shot up. "Wait. No. He's not a friend. The damn pineapple is just a damn pineapple."

Lavina laughed and patted his head, kindly not mentioning Hayato's slightly pink cheeks. "Hayato, are you going to make a name for yourself as well?"

Hayato froze.

"I mean, don't you need to get involved with the mafia and Vongola so you can help your best friends?" Lavina turned to Shamal. "Shamal, would you help him?"

Shamal huffed. "Of course I will, my beautiful Lavina." He was swat away from Lavina by her angry son. "But this brat won't want my help."

"Damn straight. I will never ask for your help." Hayato roared.

Shamal cleared his ears with a pinkie. "Yeah, yeah. Where are you going to get your dynamite supply and weaponry then?"

"…" Hayato growled at Shamal's smug face. "I do not need your help."

"We'll see."

* * *

"You're Hayato Gokudera aren't you?"

Hayato sharply turned around and glared. The person who stopped him was a young man who appeared to be in his late teens, with a smaller stature and wore glasses. "Is there a problem?" He growled.

"No, no." The teen gave a placating gesture and smiled slightly. "I'm just surprised to see you here."

Hayato was in one of the corridors of the Vongola mansion, on his way to the library. "So what?"

"Ah, I'm not looking for a fight or anything…" The teen raised his hands slightly. "I'm not even armed, you see. It's just that I never see anyone younger around here."

With a slight sigh, as it looked like this teen wasn't going to let him go any time soon, Hayato turned to fully face the teen. "What, first time in the Vongola mansion? Of course there's no children around here." Hayato gestured the hall. "This leads to the library. If you want children go down that way."

The teen chuckled in a way that was slightly reminiscent of Tsuna. "I am not looking for children, I'm looking for books. I've been here enough times to know where I'm going."

"Che. Then don't bother me, glasses creep."

The teen blinked, pushing up his glasses, before hurrying after Hayato into the library.

…

"Hayato."

"Don't call me so familiarly, glasses creep." Hayato snapped back, not even looking up from his book about memory and the brain.

"Glasses creep…? Right, I never told you my name, did I? Call me Fed." Fed called from below the reading ladder.

"I don't give a damn, glasses creep."

Fed sighed. "Mind if you get off so I can use the ladder?"

Hayato did not spare him a response, instead performing a flip and landing on top of the bookcase, still reading. He looked down at the sound of clapping.

"Wow. How did you do that?" Fed moved the ladder to the history section and climbed in search of the book he wanted.

"Che. Anyone can do that."

"Nah, none of my brothers can do that… well maybe my younger brother." Fed pulled out a book detailing the reign of Vongola Primo out and climbed to the top of the ladder and onto the top of the bookcase as well, slowly crawling to Hayato.

"Get away, glasses creep. The library is huge. Sit somewhere else." Hayato moved away from Fed.

"Ehh, I rather read next to you. I'm always alone so it's nice to have some company." Fed crawled closer.

"What are you, 5? Suck it up." Hayato growled, moving further away once more.

"Stop moving already." Fed grabbed the hem of Hayato's shirt. "I won't bother you. Just let me sit beside you. Please?"

"… Fine. Keep quiet."

…

They both looked up as the dinner bell chimed. Hayato stretched but sharply paused. "Oi."

"What?" Fed rubbed his eyes.

"You stupid glasses freak. Why did you leave the ladder all the way over there?"

"Eh?" Fed turned to the far away ladder. "It's your fault. You kept moving away."

"Any sane person would move away." Hayato snapped. "Che. Whatever." With a simple flip, Hayato gracefully landed on the ground from the bookcase that was 2 stories tall.

Fed gave him another round of applause. "Wow. You're just like a cat." Fed watched as Hayato walked off before quickly realizing something. "Wait, don't leave me. At least bring the ladder over here. Please?"

Hayato glared before kicking the ladder over. "Are you that sheltered? Just climb back."

"I was born with a weaker body." Fed slowly climbed down. "Are you returning here tomorrow?"

"If you don't come."

"How mean." Fed smiled as he returned his book. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Hayato growled.

…

Fed and Hayato continued to meet at the library. Hayato wasn't even sure why he was putting up with the teen. He blamed it on the face that Fed somehow reminded him of Tsuna and the fact that he needed to do as much research as possible before he started thinking about how to make a name for himself.

They were peacefully reading onto of a bookcase when the doors of the library slammed open. "BOMBERMAN."

Hayato didn't even look up from his book. "What, horse? Running away from Reborn-san?"

Dino sheepishly scratched his head. "Nonono, what are you talking about? Shamal said you were here…" He finally spotted Hayato on top of one of the bookcases. "Oh. You're not alone?"

"… Bucking horse Dino Chiavarone…?" Fed stared at Dino.

"Haha… Hey." Dino waved. "Who are you? A friend of Gokudera?"

"Che. Not a friend. Stop coming up with stupid ideas, stupid horse. This is just a son of one of the allies or something." Hayato jumped down from the bookcase. "What do you want?"

"Have you read the news lately?" Dino pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Hayato. Hayato grabbed it and read the headlines. He stared. Then erupted.

"THAT PINEAPPLE BASTARD. WHAT THE HELL IS HE THINKING?! IS HE TRYING TO GET ON VONGOLA'S HIT LIST?" Hayato almost tore the paper in rage. The pineapple had apparently thought it was a good idea to barge into a famiglia and take their hell ring, annihilating all opposition along the way.

"Pineapple…?" Fed had slowly climbed down and looked at the newspaper. "Mukuro Rokudo? You know him?"

"I wish I didn't…" Hayato growled. "Horse. Have you tried contacting him?"

Dino nodded. "I tried… but I couldn't find him." He stared at Fed. "Have I met you somewhere before? You look very familiar."

Fed shrugged. "I'm the son of one of the allies… Hayato, you sure know a lot of famous people." There were three already mentioned in the conversation and one in the room.

Hayato was too busy internally raging at the pineapple.

"So anyways, I was wondering if you could contact the pineapple and stop him." Dino took the paper back.

"Are you kidding me? I have no means of contacting him. Hell, I haven't even made myself a name in the mafia world yet." Hayato paced around the room. "Oi. Have you tried the meat bastard or the damn shark yet?"

"I went there before I came here. No luck." Dino sighed.

"Che. I bet they are hiding the information from you."

Dino could not retort to that statement.

Hayato ruffled his hair before sighing. "Whatever. Lancia will hold the pineapple back from going too far." Hayato picked up his discarded book. "If not, then Dokuro would. No need to worry. You should be more concerned about yourself." He walked back to the bookcase, Fed trailing. "Reborn-san will start looking for you soon. Stop slacking off."

Dino blanched and ran out the library.

"Hayato, you want to make a name for yourself in the mafia world?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Fed asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

Hayato stared at him in the eyes. "I need to help him and I will do everything I can to."

"Him? Chiavarone? Rokudo?"

"No." Hayato was disgusted at that mere thought. "Someone much greater. Someone who will completely encompass everything thrown at him." He closed his eyes and sighed. "No matter what changes he goes through." Shaking his head, he put his book away. "I'm heading back."

"Wait." Fed grabbed his arm. "I can help you. I can help you make a name for yourself within Vongola and allies. In exchange, let me meet that person. Please?"

Hayato stared at him. "I don't need help. However… I don't mind introducing you to him, but not anytime soon." He sighed. "It would take him at least 10 years…" He trailed off, calculating to himself. "Besides, what can you do anyways?"

Fed smiled. "It depends on your expertise." He looked Hayato over. "You're more of a strategist aren't you? Probably have never held a weapon before."

"Che. What are you talking about, glasses creep." Hayato gave him a smug look. "I am the most versatile out of all of… them." the guardians. "I have high proficiency with every type of warfare and weaponry you could possibly name. Strategizing is only a tiny portion of what I can do."

Fed clapped. "Perfect." Smiling, he skipped out of the library, leaving a confused Hayato.

…

Hayato was peacefully reading alone when the door of the library opened. "Hayato." Fed quickly found him and dragged him out of the library. "Follow me. I have someone you need to meet."

Fed led Hayato into a small meeting room and dragged Hayato inside. Hayato blinked.

"Meat bastard. What are you doing here?"

"Let me ask the same, storm trash." Xanxus was also confused.

Fed closed the door behind them. "You two know each other?"

"What are you talking about? I don't know any meat bastards." Hayato growled.

"All I see is trash." Xanxus huffed. "Oi. Didn't you want me to…" He paused. "So **you're** the one my brother has been meeting with?"

"What are you…" Hayato gaped. "BROTHER?!" He turned to Fed. "You're not the stick or the balloon. That means…"

Fed laughed. "Stick and balloon? I'm sure Enrico and Massimo wouldn't be happy to hear that." He gave a small bow. "Federico di Vongola at your service~"

Hayato spouted gibberish before he slowly began to form words. "YOU LIED. YOU SAID YOU WERE THE SON OF AN ALLY."

"I am the son of an ally. My father is part of the alliance. He just happens to also lead it." Fed smiled, not missing a beat.

"YOU LOOK YOUNGER THAN THE MEAT BASTARD, GLASSES CREEP. I THOUGHT HE WAS YOUNGEST."

"He is. I was sickly when I was young so I look a bit younger than my age. I'm 20 this year, by the way." incidentally, Xanxus was 19.

Xanxus stood up. "Whatever. I'm out of here."

"Xanxus. You owe me." Fed kindly reminded.

"…" Xanxus growled before sitting back down. "Fine."

"Wait." Hayato cut in. "I am not joining the Varia." He glared at both brothers.

"For once, I agree with the storm trash."

Fed sighed. "Xanxus, at least provide Hayato supplies then."

"Shamal stopped giving you allowance?" Xanxus smirked.

Hayato glared back. "I don't need that skirt chaser's help. I don't need your help either."

Xanxus shrugged. "I'm doing this back because I owe that guy." He gestured Fed. "The stuff will be given to you whether you want it or not." He turned to Fed. "Am I done here?" He grumbled.

"Thanks, Xanxus." Fed smiled.

"Why am I doing this again…" Xanxus huffed as he left the room. Oh yeah. Because Federico reminded him of… him too much.

Fed sighed. "So that leaves Enrico or Massimo…"

"Wait." Hayato cut in. "I won't work for either one of them. Just to tell you in advance."

"That person doesn't let you work for members of Vongola?" Fed asked, confused.

"No… quite the contrary. However, I personally refuse to work for either one of them. I won't stand being in the same room as an arrogant stick or an empty headed balloon." Hayato declared. "I won't work for you either."

"Why?" Fed was very curious.

"Because I can't. I just can't."

Fed's eyes glowed a slight tint of orange. "Is it because I am a Vongola?" He paused. "Or is because I am a candidate for Vongola Decimo?" He smiled, hyper intuition reading Hayato's positive reaction. "I see. So you are allied with the mysterious unnamed heir." Fed's eyes reverted back to its original hazel. "There's no need to worry. I never thought of succeeding." He sighed. "I really envy Xanxus for that… for being able to renounce his candidacy and take control of his own path. I don't have any group I can lead so I am stuck with my title."

Hayato bit his lips slightly, refusing to speak another word.

"Well, you can at least meet them. I still want to introduce my friend to them." Fed smiled. "Please?"

"…Fine. But don't think that I will be able to get along with any of them, glasses creep." Hayato sighed. At least he had an explanation of why he kept on seeing him in Fed and agreeing with Fed's demands. Hayato blamed it on the blood of Vongola.

It was not a surprise that Hayato and Dino did not recognize Fed. He was not joking when he said he was sheltered. Being born weak, he stayed at home most of his childhood. In the original timeline, he was forced into the limelight due to his position as the third candidate. However, Timoteo had announced that he had an intended heir that wasn't any of his sons when Federico was 10, thus allowing Federico to stay in the mansion of Vongola unharmed, but lonely.

…

Hayato, as he foresaw, did not get along with either of Federico's other brothers.

He could not stand being in the same room as the balloon (Massimo), leaving the room shortly after their first meeting. Something about his head being emptier than a turf top.

He got in a heated argument with the stick (Enrico) within seconds after they met. Which eventually led to a competition of using different weaponry. Unfortunately for Enrico, much to the amusement of Fed and Xanxus, he underestimate Hayato. A lot.

Hayato basically overpowered him in every way possible.

This led to two outcomes. The first being Enrico would sought out Hayato at random times of the day to challenge him, only to get beaten badly again. The second… Hayato gained status within the Vongola and allies.

It took every bit of self control to not scream 'in your face' at Shamal. Lavina did it for him, though in a much kinder manner.

* * *

"Hey."

Fed looked up from his book. "Hayato? What brings you here so early in the morning?"

"I'm leaving for Japan."

"…" Fed closed his eyes. "I see. You're going to go see that person?"

"Yeah. He needs me. All of us." whether or not he remembers.

Fed jumped off the top of the bookcase, something he had mastered after being trained by Hayato over the course of many years. "So this is a goodbye?"

Hayato shrugged. "If you get yourself killed tomorrow, yes." He shook his head in exasperation. "You're forgetting that my mother kind of lives here."

"And that that person is related to Vongola." Fed smiled. "Good luck then." He paused before quickly pulling out a cell phone. "Oh right. Give me your number." He looked at Hayato. "Please?"

"… Fine."


	47. DA IV -5- Assassination

"Reborn is gone… He has been spotted in Italy… this is the perfect time to act…"

"Roger."

* * *

It was quiet for a few days.

Quiet to everyone, but Tomiko.

Her hyper intuition had been probing her nonstop for the past few days, giving her a feeling of foreboding, that something bad was going to happen very soon. However, she could not pinpoint exactly what her HI was trying to tell her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm it, but it did not remedy the situation. Suddenly, she felt a presence and sharply turned around.

Ryohei held his hands up. "Miko. Are you extremely alright?"

Tomiko rubbed her temple with a sigh of relief. "I think so… I've been getting headaches lately… it might be because of the flame barriers."

Placing a hand on her forehead, Ryohei injected some flames into her. "You should extremely go home and rest. I'll extremely inform Hibari for you." He headed off without giving Tomiko a chance to decline.

Sighing, Tomiko left the school. Her HI grew stronger as she left the school gate. She closed her eyes and walked, following wherever her intuition would lead her. The ringing was getting stronger and stronger each step she took.

Tomiko's foot hit a wall. She opened her eyes. "…Sawada Residence…?" She blinked and closed her eyes again, trying to identify the source of the ringing.

_If you want to sense flames again, just enter Hyper Dying Will Mode._

"…" Tomiko shrugged. Well it was worth a try. With a blink, she entered HDWM.

Her mind was cleared of its fog. …9 presences. All flameless. Each wielding a sniper pointed at the Sawada Residence. An attempt assassination. But who were they targeting?

Tsuna, as the boss of the strongest famiglia, was well acquainted with assassins and assassination attempts. Tomiko knew exactly what to do.

With well trained precision, she slowly slid her sky flames around each assassin, forming an invisible flame bubble around each one. Then slowly bringing her hands to her chest, activated the Zero point breakthrough: First edition. The assassins slowly froze, one at a time… one… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… ni-

"Toku-nee?"

Tomiko instantly extinguished her flames and turned to Tsuna in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak but her HI had other things in mind. Dashing forward, she pushed Tsuna into the front of the house.

2 bullets were shot before the last assassin completely froze. Thankfully, none hit her heart.

Tsuna screamed.

* * *

Tsuna woke up with a huge headache. He grumbled with irritation as he left the house for school, hoping the pain would leave later. It grew.

"Tsuna, are you feeling alright?" Hayato watched as Takeshi injected some flames into Tsuna, hoping to ease the pain. "I think you should go home."

Hayato agreed. "We will tell the teacher for you."

"…Alright. Please tell Toku-nee as well…" Tsuna stood up and slowly headed home.

…

Tsuna blinked twice. Was that a dying will flame on Toku-nee's head? He rubbed his eyes. It seems like it was… "Toku-nee?"

The flame disappeared as Tomiko turned to him in surprise. What happened next was a complete blur to Tsuna.

Tsuna screamed.

Bianchi ran outside less than half a second after the scream, having been near the front porch. She instantly ran to the bloody girl on the lawn, calling an ambulance.

With years of practiced first aid experience, she instantly took the mask off the girl's face… and promptly shoved it back on. Bianchi blinked twice as a storm erupted inside her before she snapped out of her stupor and lifted the shirt of the girl to check her wounds. She could not let her die.

"I-pin, Fuuta. Take Tsuna back inside. Now." Bianchi commanded, knowing that the stunned children were behind her. They did so, as Lambo ran up to Tomiko in absolute silence.

Following Bianchi's well coordinated lead, Lambo took the bullets out of Tomiko robotically and hardened the wounds with his flames. Lambo had performed this procedure many times, but it had never been this aching before.

"…L-lambo…" Tomiko reached for him, in a sudden moment of consciousness, "I'll be… a-alright…" Pulling Lambo closer, Tomiko whispered 9 coordinates into his ear before passing out for good.

"…Miko-nee? MIKO-NEE?"

"Lambo, she will be fine. She will be fine…" Bianchi repeated, trying to reassure herself. She had to be alright.

The ambulance arrived seconds after.

* * *

"Do not step foot into this room." Kyoya did not even drop his catchphrase before slamming the door into the paramedic's faces.

Ryohei and Takeshi instantly poured as much flames as they could into Tomiko to heal the wound. Lussuria barged in seconds after and did the same. Every guardian had dropped everything to rush to the hospital.

Tomiko cracked opened her eyes seconds later. "… Where…"

"Hospital. Go sleep." Hayato ordered, giving a sigh of relief. Tomiko obeyed.

"…She managed to wake up that quickly after sustaining an injury like this?" Shamal asked, exasperated. "Seriously, what's with her insane healing speed and endurance?"

"Kufufu… is that a problem?" Mukuro held his trident at Shamal's neck, encouraging him to get on with the checkup.

"I never said it was a problem. And she's going to make a complete recovery in about 2 days." He stood up. "Bianchi-chan and the cow were fast enough." He patted the bawling cow's back, ignoring the fact that he was male for now.

Lambo wiped the tears and snot off his face. "Of course. Ore-sama is the best." Jumping off the bed, Lambo climbed onto Mukuro's shoulder and whispered 4 coordinates. Then he did the same to Kyoya. The three of them quietly left the room. They had a lot of emotions to vent out.

…

There were screams coming from the interrogation rooms below the mansion, someplace that Shoichi had modified to suit the needs of the sadists of the family.

Kyoya had always left the biggest mess when given the opportunity. This was an opportunity. Screams echoed the chamber as Kyoya made note that he would need to tell Shoichi to clean and maybe repaint the walls later. Or tell Spanner so he could send a robot down to do the job instead and save Shoichi's stomach. The latter was the more viable option.

…

"Kufufu… speak. Unlike the sadistic brute next door, I will let you stay alive. Now speak." Mukuro bent near his mumbling victim before pulling back. "Kufufu… oya oya, Scordare? I would have expected a better lie from you." He slowly drew his trident up the man's chest. "Kufufu… even I know that the Scordare have been Vongola's oldest allies. You expect me to believe that they would be after the son and wife of Sawada Iemitsu?" The trident dug deeper. "Oya oya, I guess I would just need to check for myself." He slashed his victim once more down the chest. "However, that will be after I play with you. Kufufu… you rotten mafia, let me teach you what I have learned from you."

Mukuro was never known for keeping his promises.

…

Compared to the two others, Lambo left the room very clean. However, it would be good to have in mind that Lambo grew up with the two above sadists plus Reborn and Tsuna. Let's just say that the man who shot Lambo's Miko-nee had a very pleasant time with him.

Lambo was wearing a black accessory and his Vongola ring on his left little finger by the time Kyoya and Mukuro went to pick him up. The body didn't even leave ashes behind.

* * *

Tomiko made a full recovery the next day. She found herself under a dog pile seconds after she opened her eyes.

"Hayato, I'm fine. Chrome, please stop crying. Shoichi, calm down. Takeshi, you're choking me. Mukuro, you're squishing Lambo. Ryohei, you're squishing Lizzie. Fran… what are you doing…?" She gave a pleading glance towards the wall. "… Kyoya, help me…"

The tonfa encouraged everyone to separate.

"…" Tomiko gave a loud sigh as she looked at the occupants of the room. "How many times was I shot?"

"Twice. Once on your left shoulder, the other one near your mid spine." Shamal flipped through his notes. "I can't believe you are awake already."

Tomiko shrugged, moving her left arm to test her muscles. "I feel perfectly fine."

"I assure you, you were not fine a day ago." Shamal rubbed his temple. Tomiko was like an amplified sun and lightning combined.

Tomiko shrugged once more before looking at the children on her lap. One was asleep, like always. The other… Tomiko sighed quietly as she pulled Lambo closer and gently rubbed circles on his back, not mentioning the black accessory or ring. She glanced up. "Tsuna?"

"Ken, Chikusa, Lancia, I-pin and Bianchi-san are guarding the Sawada Residence…" Chrome answered. "Fran and I… altered Sawada's memories…"

"It was all just a dream." Fran readjusted his hat.

"I see. Thank you." Tomiko glanced down at the cow in her arms again. "…The assassins?"

"Kufufu… don't worry, Tomiko-chan. We took care of them. They were a bunch of freelancers hired to go after the son and wife of Sawada Iemitsu." Mukuro gave her a very creepy smile.

"… Are any of them still alive or sane…?"

No one answered her.

Tomiko sighed once more as she silently pondered that information. "Stay near Tsuna." Unsurprisingly, there were protests. Tomiko shook her head. "They were not after me. They were after Tsuna. You are his guardians so stay with your sky." She gently lifted Lambo off her lap and into Hayato's arms. Her orange eyes forced the guardians, sans Chrome and Kyoya out of the room.

…

"Why does Hibari-nii get to stay?" Lambo complained.

"Ahaha… Miko's his 'relative', remember?" Takeshi patted Lambo on the back.

Hayato growled. "That damn Skylark."

…

"Shoichi, can you call Basil for me?" Shoichi nodded and left the room.

"Miko-hime, I'll go call boss and marshmallow."

"Thank you, Fran." Tomiko watched Fran leave the room. "Chrome, can you get my paperwork for me? It doesn't seem like I would be able to leave for a while."

"Hai, Tomiko-sama." She too left the room with Shamal, leaving the 2 clouds behind.

"…Kyoya, I've been wondering this for a while now but… what is around my ankle?" Tomiko shifted her foot, creating a sound that suspiciously sounded like metal on metal.

Kyoya smirked, twirling a cloud handcuff with a finger. "I will bite you to death if it breaks."

Tomiko groaned, noting how Kyoya had made the cuff extremely fragile and impossible to repair with her sky flames. "This is unnecessary."

"Hn. How many times have you've almost died recently?" The handcuff propagated.

Tomiko flailed. "One is enough. Really. I'll stay put." She glanced around the room. "I didn't know there was a private room this big in the hospital."

"Hn." There isn't.

"Eh?" Tomiko blinked twice. "… You did not forcefully clear a room."

"I didn't." Kyoya smirked.

"…Hay'…" Lizzie muttered. Tomiko face palmed.

"Hayato… didn't destroy anything… right?" The child shook her head. Tomiko gave a sigh of relief.

Kyoya shrugged. "The herbivore owes us."

"Even if the director of the hospital does, it doesn't mean that we can just abuse it."

Kyoya gave her a look that screamed 'I don't care'.

Tomiko sighed as Xanxus, Squalo and Byakuran entered the room, followed by Fran.

"Mi-chan~" Byakuran glomped Tomiko.

"VOOOIIIII" Squalo greeted.

Xanxus shook his head. "You suicidal, brat?"

"I'm not… do you mind going back to Italy?"

Xanxus smirked. "To clean the trash." He nodded as Squalo pulled out a cell phone.

"VOI WE'RE HEADING TO ITALY TO SQUISH SOME BUGS." Squalo screamed. "PACK YOUR STUFF." He hung up.

"Brat. These two brats are yours." Xanxus pointed at Lizzie and Fran. "Don't blame me if a war starts."

Tomiko groaned. "Please try to hold back…"

"No promises." Xanxus and Squalo left the room.

"Mi-chan, I'm heading back to Italy as well. I need to visit Yuni-chan." Byakuran smiled. "She will be old enough to come here soon."

Tomiko nodded. "Send her my regards."

"Of course~ Take care, Mi-chan. Try not to die." Byakuran flew towards the window.

"I will."

* * *

Author's Note:

Originally, this chapter was a bit more graphic. i had to cut out a lot of details so i could keep my rating...  
I apologize if i didn't cut enough out but i think this should be ok.  
And this original famiglia does not count towards my 4 OCs.

-1458


	48. SA -1- KOZATO ENMA

Fran opened his eyes. "Miko-hime, Reborn-senpai is returning tomorrow. Shishou told me just now."

Tomiko nodded, taking the eggs from Fran. "Exactly a week… that is so much like Reborn."

"The Shimon are coming as well."

"Shimon…" Tomiko trailed off with a slight sigh. "Fran, could you pass me the peaches?"

Fran rummaged through the bags for peaches. "Miko-hime, use apples next."

"Alright."

* * *

Reborn and the 10th Shimon generation left the bus to a warm welcome.

"KOYO HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO THE EXTREME?"

"EVEN IF I DON'T, IN THE END I MY PUNCHES ARE STILL STRONGER AND FASTER"

"STOP TALKING NONSENSE TO THE EXTREME" The two loud boys ran off into the forest, the sounds of punching and screaming echoing.

"Rauji!" Lambo leapt onto him. "Candy!"

"Lambo-san… I have some here." Rauji fished out a huge bag of candy.

Lambo greedily took the bag and bounced. "Let's go play! Hurry up, Rauji."

"STUPID COW, STOP CAUSING PROBLEMS FOR OTHER PEOPLE." Hayato screamed as he continued to sprint away.

"Gokudera-shi, solve your own problems first." Lambo dragged Rauji off to the arcade, giving absolutely no attempts to rid Hayato of Shitt P.

"Haha, yo Kaoru." Takeshi swung an arm around Kaoru's neck. "How's it going?"

"Fine." Kaoru mumbled, embarrassed at the physical contact.

"Why isn't Chrome-chan here?" Julie complained, prompting Adelheid to smack him with a fan.

"Tsuna-kun, Dokuro-san and Hibari-san didn't come?" Enma looked around, hand holding Mami's, who was staring at the strangers in awe silently.

"Maa maa… Chrome isn't Tsuna's mist this time. It's just Mukuro. Tsuna and Mukuro should be at Tsuna's house with the rest of Kokuyo." Takeshi explained as Reborn leapt onto his shoulder. "As for Hibari…" Takeshi laughed. "He is in that tree over there." There was a rustle of leaves. "Was there."

Reborn shrugged. "Let's go."

…

"Dame-Tsuna. I'm back."

"I can see that." Tsuna received a kick in the forehead. "Ow… Reborn, who are those people?"

"A-ah um. We-" Enma bit his tongue. Mami giggled at his misfortune as Adelheid sighed.

"Shimon. We are the Shimon Famiglia and have been close allies with the Vongola since the first generation." Adelheid looked Tsuna over carefully. She swung her fan in Enma's direction. "This is the tenth boss of the Shimon Famiglia, Kozato Enma."

Tsuna nodded. "Nice to meet you. I am Sawada Tsunayoshi. Call me Tsuna."

Enma nodded back, biting his lips in confusion as an unpleasant feeling started welling up within him.

"Enma-niichan?" Mami looked up as she felt the hand clasping hers tense.

"Ah sorry, did that hurt?" Enma loosened his hands. "Adelheid, I'm going for a walk. I'll head straight to the hotel after."

"Mami too!"

"And I'm taking Mami as well."

Adelheid analyzed him for a few seconds before nodding. "Return before 4."

"Ok."

* * *

"Enma-niichan, what are we doing here?" Mami ran around the abandoned warehouse once before running back to her brother, who was sitting on top of a stage, staring at his ring.

Enma sighed. "I don't know, Mami… I'm so confused…" He sighed once more, raising his head to look out the broken ceiling. "I have finally met him, but why does it feel like I haven't?"

Mami looked at him in complete confusion before deciding her brother was having one of his weird spaced out moments. She giggled. "Enma-niichan is thinking too hard."

Enma chuckled. "Maybe." He looked down at his ring again and closed his eyes. "All I want to do is meet him again…"

"Enma-niichan! The ring! Bug!"

"Eh?" Enma snapped his eyes opened and watched as the ring, now in beetle form, rest on his finger before flying off. Enma blinked twice before he realized what was actually going on. "AAAAAH THE RING. COME BACK." Grabbing a giggling Mami, he dashed out the warehouse after the ring.

…

Enma, carrying Mami, followed the ring into the hospital, up the stairs, and into a private room. Enma dashed inside the room, face turning bright red at the sight of the ring lodged onto the patient inside's finger.

"I'm so sorry. That is my ring. I'm very sorry. I'll take it off right away. Sorry." Enma quickly walked to the girl and tried to take the ring off. "Sorry, really sorry."

"It's fine…" The girl tried to tug the ring off as well. The ring refused to budge.

There was a very awkward moment of tugging.

"I'm really sorry. I have no idea why it won't come off. I'm sorry. Very sorry." Enma stammered, trying to think of ways to remove a tight ring from a finger.

"Shall we try using butter?" The girl opened the strange looking fridge beside her bed and pulled out a cube of butter. Awkwardly inserting the butter between her finger and the ring did not work.

"Sorry…"

"… Um… I might still have some oil… Could you please check that drawer?" The girl pointed to the shelves beside the fridge.

Enma opened it, and after rummaging through the many bottles, found a few drops of oil.

"… Ah… sorry, I asked my friend to buy some yesterday but she hasn't come by yet…"

"No need, it's my fault that we are in this situation in the first place." Enma poured the last few drops of oil around the ring and tugged some more. It refused to budge.

"I'm sorry for getting your ring all messy…" The girl pulled back in another attempt to remove the ring.

"I'm sorry for getting the ring stuck on you…" Enma pulled once more.

Mami ran up to the struggling duo, having finished exploring the hospital room. "Onee-chan, are you Enma-niichan's friend?"

Enma shook his head. "Mami, this onee-chan isn't my friend. I haven't even…" He paused, before turning back to the girl. Mami had a point. The Shimon ring was refusing to detach from this girl. "… Tsuna-kun?"

"…" Tomiko pulled off her mask and hair pins. "I am Hibari Tomiko…" She looked away, embarrassed.

"Ah um… I am Kozato Enma. Pleased to meet you, Tomiko-chan." Enma held out his hand awkwardly.

Tomiko laughed, taking the hand. "Pleased to meet you too, Enma-kun. Shall we be friends?"

Enma laughed as well. "Let's be friends. Please take care of me."

"Like wise."

The ring slid off of Tomiko's hand.

She picked it up from the bed. "Sorry, Enma-kun. It will take a while to clean this."

Enma took the ring from her. "It should come off on its own eventually." He accepted the tissue from Tomiko. The two of them silently cleaned themselves.

"… So… this onee-chan is Enma-niichan's friend?" Mami kicked her brother's chair, unhappy that she had been ignored for so long.

Enma topped over due to the sudden shift of balance and his clumsiness.

Tomiko tried to help Enma but fell halfway off the bed in the process.

"…" Both Enma and Tomiko groaned slightly. Mami giggled.

"Mami… you shouldn't do that…" Enma slowly got up.

"…Enma-kun, can you help me up? Kyoya chained my foot onto the bed." Tomiko swung her arms around, in a failed attempt to shift herself.

Enma helped her back onto the bed. "Why did Hibari-san chain you to a bed?" He straightened the blanket, glancing at the handcuff.

"… He's mad at me for something…"

"I see…" Enma looked Tomiko over. "Why are you in the hospital? Did you get hurt? Are you sick?"

"… Err um… I had a little accident. Then the others got mad and forced me to stay here." She sighed, ruffling her hair. "I'm completely healed already…"

Enma laughed. "'Little accident'? What happened? Did you get shot or something?" Tomiko froze. Enma smiled and attached a gravity field around the cuff, reducing Tomiko's chance of escape from 0% to -10%. "Where?"

"… It grazed my shoulder." Tomiko smiled back. "Enma-kun, that was unnecessary."

Enma lifted his hand again, smile unfaltering, as a second gravity ball formed.

Tomiko flailed. "One is enough. Please. You are just like Kyoya…" She turn to the pouting Mami. "I am Tomiko. What's your name?"

Mami bounced. "Mami. Kozato Mami! Hi~"

"Mami-chan, would you like some cake?" Tomiko held her arms out as Mami climbed onto the bed.

"Yes please! I want cake!"

Tomiko smiled and opened a different door of her strange fridge. "What type do you want? I have strawberry, chiffon, chocolate, vanilla, coconut, mango, mocha, ice cream-"

Enma walked to the other side of her bed and stared into the fridge. "Tomiko-chan, why do you have so many cakes?"

Tomiko pulled out a strawberry cake at Mami's request and took out a knife. "I baked them all since I was bored here and my cake supply at home was running low."

"… Cake supply…? …Hibari-san is a sweet tooth?" Enma gaped.

"Kyoya prefers Japanese style sweets." She handed the happy Mami a slice of cake and a fork. "These are for someone else."

"… all of them…? What type of monster could eat that much…"

Tomiko sweat dropped. "Ahaha… yeah…" Tomiko was really thankful she made enough money to be able to spare a portion for baking. That was one potential disaster adverted. "Enma-kun, would you like some as well?"

"Ah, sure. Thank you."

…

"Tomiko-chan, it's almost 4. We need to head back to the hotel."

"Alright. See you soon." She blinked. "Oh right." Turning around, she searched the shelf beside her. "Here."

"A ring…?" Enma examined the ring attached to a chain. It had a Mammon cover over it, obscuring most of its details. "Isn't this a sky ring?"

"Think of it as a good luck charm." She smiled. "Who knows, it might come in handy in the future."

"Thank you." Enma wore the chain around his neck and tucked the ring away from view. "Mami, we need to go. Say good bye to this onee-chan."

"Bye bye, onee-chan. Mami will visit you again." Mami waved.

Tomiko waved back with a smiled. "See you soon, Mami-chan. Bye, Enma-kun."

"Bye, Tomiko-chan." Enma led Mami out of the hospital.

…

"Mami."

"Yes, Enma-niichan?" Mami looked up curiously.

"Keep that onee-chan a secret from everyone else, ok?"

"Secret from Adelheid-neechan?" Mami smiled mischievously. "Sure! Mami will keep it a secret from everyone~"

Enma nodded, slightly wondering if he was teaching Mami bad behaviour. Eh, well, Koyo and Julie probably beaten him to it.

* * *

"I have to what?" Tomiko stared at the vial in her hands. She looked at the person in front of her again. "You do know that Kyoya would kill me for this right? And not just him, all of the others as well. Even Enma."

"It will be fine, Tomiko. It's not going to hurt you or anything. All it would do is give them a little scare." He shrugged. "It's more realistic this way."

Tomiko rubbed her temple, unable to deny his claims.

"Besides, it will benefit all of them, Sawada Tsunayoshi, his guardians and Shimon." He poked the vial. "This is similar to the drug used in Romeo and Juliet. No harm be done."

"That is not reassuring at all. Everyone dies in Romeo and Juliet." Tomiko popped open the vial with a sigh. "If any of them go after me, I'm redirecting the damage to you." She drank the drug, falling unconscious seconds after.

He smiled as he gently laid her down. "Sleep well, my dear Tomiko."


	49. PA -17- Childhood of the Earth

Kozato Enma was born determined.

He will do everything he can to grow stronger and support Tsuna in every way he could. He will prevent another tragedy from happening in the future.

As such, he began to sneak off to the forest the moment he could walk.

* * *

"…Enma?" Adelheid pushed some branches aside, spotting the red hair. "So this is where you've been." She stared at him and then space beside him. "What on earth are you doing?"

"A-adelheid…" Enma scrambled out of the hole. "I-i… I need to get stronger."

Adelheid blinked. "How does digging make you stronger?" She paused as she heard Enma mumble something. "Repeat that."

"… ring…" He mumbled again.

"Ring? … you don't mean…" Adelheid smacked him on the head. "Are you insane? Why are you digging for the Shimon rings already? Why don't you just wait for that earthquake to happen again? It will take you forever to uncover them."

Enma shook his head. "That will take too long. I need them as soon as can get them." He bent down and continued to dig.

Adelheid sighed. "At least use a shovel. You're ruining your hands." She bent down and started digging with him.

"A-adelheid! You don't need to-"

Enma was smacked again. "I'm bringing a shovel tomorrow. You bring one as well."

"Ok. Thank you."

…

Adelheid stared. "I said to bring a shovel. Not a sister."

"S-sorry, Adelheid… I need to babysit Mami. You know that my parents aren't home."

"… You brought Mami digging with you before." Enma clenched his face, anticipating the smack on the head. It came as he expected. "Did you lose some common sense when you were reborn? I can't believe you bring Mami with you."

"Addy!" Mami gurgled happily, reaching for Adelheid, who held a hand near her in response. Mami grabbed the hand.

"I can't believe I'm going to allow this."

"T-thank you, Adelheid."

…

"Enma!" Rauji stumbled into view. "You walk too fast."

"Eh? Rauji, you followed me?" Enma turned around in surprise.

"Of course. It's so hard to find you or Adelheid-san." Rauji looked at the wide hole. "Are you digging for something?"

Enma sheepishly scratched his head. "Ah… yeah… I am looking for the Shimon rings."

"I will help as well." Rauji grabbed the empty shovel on the ground and started digging right away.

Enma smiled. "Thank you, Rauji."

…

"So this is what you three have been doing."

Enma, Rauji and Adelheid looked up in surprise. "Julie?! What are you doing here?"

Julie shrugged. "Was bored. The older girls keep treating me like a kid."

Adelheid slapped him four times. "Because you are a kid. Pervert."

"Oww, I'm not a pervert, Adelheid, I'm just doing what people my age does." Julie received another slap. "So… what are you looking for?"

"Shimon rings…" Enma looked at the ground.

"Why are you doing something as troublesome as this?"

"I need to get stronger." Enma resumed digging.

"No I meant, why are you using a shovel? Can't you just blast the earth until the rings appear?"

Adelheid gave him a roundhouse kick. "Are you stupid? If he could blast the earth we wouldn't need to look for the rings. Now stop talking and dig." She shoved the shovel into Julie's hands and picked up a spare.

Julie held the shovel as he rubbed his face. "Owww"

"Julie… Thank you."

"No need, Enma. Let's find those rings."

…

Mami squealed.

"Mami? Are you hungry?" Enma walked up to her and picked her up.

"I have some candy…" Rauji searched his coat pockets.

"If she's hungry, she would be crying, not squealing." Adelheid sighed as she resumed digging.

"She's probably bored." Julie stretched. "Let's take a break."

Adelheid punched him. "You barely did anything. Keep digging." She ordered.

"Ka!" Mami cheered.

Enma looked down, puzzled. "Ka?"

Mami was silent for a few seconds before nodding. "Kaka!"

"Kaka? Is that a laugh…?" Enma looked around. "Is there something-" He jumped. "Ka-ka-"

"Kaka!" Mami clapped.

"Kaoru! Since when were you here?"

"…" Kaoru dipped his head.

"Ah no. I'm not saying I don't want you here. I am very glad that you are here. I was just wondering how long you have been here." Enma quickly reassured.

"F-few minutes…" Kaoru murmured.

Enma gave a small sigh of relief, thankful that they noticed him quick enough. "Uh… We're looking for the Shimon rings… would you like to join?"

Kaoru nodded.

Enma smiled as he handed him a shovel. "Thank you, Kaoru."

…

"In the end, this is where you all were."

Five heads turned to the voice as Koyo picked Mami up. "Koko!"

Koyo patted Mami. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Win'!" Mami cheered.

"Yes, WIN!" Koyo punched the air.

"Ah… Mami meant 'ring'… We are searching for the Shimon rings." Enma explained. "Um… Koyo, could you please help?"

"In the end, the forest is my territory. I'll show you how the pro does it." He gave Mami to Enma and swung his arms. "Alright. Let's GO!" Koyo punched the earth.

Adelheid gave him an axe kick. "YOU IDIOT. WHY ARE YOU COMPACTING THE EARTH? IT'S HARDER TO DIG THIS WAY."

Julie handed him a shovel. "Go punch this shovel instead, 'pro'."

"Are you mocking me?! Punching the shovel is useless." Koyo snapped.

"I'm not telling you to just punch a shovel, I'm telling you to punch the shovel into the earth." Julie stabbed the earth with the shovel. "Hurry up and stop wasting my time."

Koyo gave a feral growl.

"K-koyo… Um… Thank you for the help." Enma stammered, getting between the potential fight.

Koyo begrudgingly punched the shovel.

…

"Enma, how mean, leaving me out."

"Shittopi-cha-" Enma turned around and was flattened.

And so, the entire Shimon tenth generation continued to dig.

* * *

"I'm home." Enma opened the door holding the sleeping Mami in one arm, absolutely tired from another day of digging. He walked towards the living room and froze. There was the unmistakable smell of blood in the air. Eyes widening, he quietly hid Mami in the corner and slowly inched towards the living room.

"… why…?" The room was painted with blood. Blood that was still dripping from the walls. There were multiple bodies on the ground, which Enma recognized as his parents and a few of their associates. A drop of blood from the ceiling that landed in front of Enma awoken him from his stunned horror. Enma ran out of the house carrying Mami straight to Adelheid's, not noticing the four leaf clover on the floor.

…

Enma's guardians silently gathered in the forest the next day.

"Daemon Spade." Adelheid growled.

"He was a year early though." Shitt P. pointed out.

"And the 'Flood of Blood' happened to the CEDEF, not to Enma's parents." Julie continued.

"At least Mami-chan is ok." Rauji, like everyone else, was very glad that was the case.

"Changes in timeline…" Kaoru muttered.

The rest of them nodded. "In the end, I wonder what the trigger is."

Julie clapped. "Woah, Koyo said something smart."

Adelheid hit both of them on the head before an argument escalated. "Silence. We will look for the trigger later, when we reunite with the Vongola. For now, focus on finding the Shimon Rings. It's like what Enma said. We need to get stronger, much stronger than last time."

...

They found the rings 2 months later.


	50. SA -3- Sin

"EXTREME Tsuna, I'm going to continue my extreme jog. See you."

"Ok, bye, onii-san." Tsuna waved as Ryohei ran off.

"EXTREME"

Tsuna turned around in surprise as a second, slightly older Ryohei zoomed past him. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, determining that it was probably his imagination.

…

"Lambo?" I-pin called at the older boy.

He looked up from his crepe in surprise. "Oh crap, I-pin." Without sparing a second glance, he dashed off.

I-pin ran after him as fast as she could but still ended up losing sight of him. She dashed back to the Sawada Residence. "LAMBO"

"What, I-pin?" Lambo lazily opened his eyes from the floor, having been napping until a few seconds prior.

"I saw you eating a crepe just now."

Lambo rubbed his eyes. "Crepe? Hmm… I want some crepe. Let's go get some later."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT." I-pin screamed. "There was an older version of you eating a crepe."

"Ha? I-pin… are you sure it wasn't a dream or something? Maybe you mistook someone for me… Sho-nii did return my 10 year bazooka, but I didn't use it…" Lambo ruffled through his hair and pulled it out slightly. "See, it's still here…" He shoved the bazooka back in and yawned. "I-pin, you need some rest… Let's go sleep." He dragged I-pin down to the floor and promptly fell asleep.

"Wait. Lambo. LAMBO."

…

Ken and Chikusa blinked. "Kakippi… that's the stupid girl right?"

"…" Chikusa pushed up his glasses, watching as a familiar girl wearing an eyepatch with purple pineapple hair walk towards a building. Plus, she looked a few years older. "…How troublesome."

"OI STUPID GIRL" Ken yelled.

The girl turned around and stared at them. "Ken… Chikusa…" Tapping her spear onto the ground, she promptly disappeared.

Ken was stunned silent. Did the stupid girl just run away from him? And so obviously as well?

Chikusa sighed. "Ken, let's go tell Mukuro-sama."

…

Mukuro dodged a tonfa. "Kufufu… I am not here for a fight, birdie." He sat down on the couch, ignoring Kyoya's glare. "Kufufufufu… I just saw the most curious thing earlier." He gave Kyoya a creepy smile. "I was not aware that you had an older brother."

Kyoya threw another tonfa at him.

"Oya oya, I'm serious." Mukuro leaned back. "I saw someone who looked just like you except they looked a little older and was wearing the Namikou uniform. He even had that red discipline badge that you love so much."

Kyoya was about to throw another tonfa at him when they heard a knock on the door. Kyoko slid the door open. "Inchou! I didn't know you had a brother."

Kyoya raised his eyebrow as Mukuro snickered. "Hn?" What?

"An older brother. He looks just like you too…" Kyoko stared at Mukuro for a few seconds before pointing at him. "And he was fighting an older version of Chrome-chan's family."

"Kufufu… my 'brother' was there as well? Interesting." Mukuro stood up. "Where were our 'brothers' fighting?"

"I think it was in the former Kokuyo theme park." Kyoko shrugged. "Oh right. Inchou, Kaichou was looking for you. Something about suspicious people near the hospi-" Both Kyoya and Mukuro left the room before Kyoko could even finish her sentence.

* * *

For the first time, Kyoya and Mukuro entered the same door without destroying anything or hurting anyone or attacking each other.

Shoichi turned from Tomiko's bedside. "Hibari-san! Rokudo-kun!"

"Kufufu… what happened?"

"…" Shoichi stepped aside. Tomiko was sleeping peacefully on the bed. There were a vase of white chrysanthemums on the table side.

Kyoya narrowed his eyes at the flowers and turned to Shoichi. Shoichi directed Kyoya's gaze to Shamal.

"… I have no idea what is going on." Shamal scribbled some more notes as he glanced at Tomiko again. "She was completely healed and has not made any excessive movements since. Plus Sawada Tsunayoshi has not done anything either."

Both a tonfa and a trident started heading towards Shamal's direction. He casually dodged them. "Tomiko-chan is in a coma."

They both froze. "Explain."

Shamal checked Tomiko's pulse again, shaking his head. "She is alive and healthy, but for some reason she is not waking up."

"Oya oya, who was supposed to guard the room today?"

Fran raised his hand. "Shishou, I was helping Miko-hime bake when suddenly she just closed her eyes and fell back."

"Mukuro-sama… I was here as well…" Chrome clenched Lizzie tighter in her arms. "I don't know what happened to Tomiko-sama…"

"It's alright, my dear Chrome. Now Irie. Explain about the suspicious people."

"I'll explain it in my lab. Spanner started investigating it there already and it's not safe to do it here right now-"

"Irie. Where are they." Kyoya calmly demanded.

Shoichi shivered. "T-they are in the mansion. They are investigating right now as well and will surely come here soon."

"…Hn." Kyoya turned around and headed to Shoichi's lab. Luckily for everyone else, he did not notice the empty cake fridge.

"A-ano… I called the other guardians here as well…"

Shoichi nodded. "I'll arrange for all of them to go directly to my lab."

"Kufufu… Chrome, Fran and Lizzie, stay here and protect Tomiko-chan from this pervert. I assume that the storm arcobaleno would arrive shortly as well. We will take care of the suspicious people."

"Hai."

…

The rest of the guardians were forcefully taken from the path to the hospital and assembled in Shoichi's lab via Gola Mosca.

"OI WHAT DO YOU MEAN TOKU-HIME WON'T WAKE UP?!" Hayato screamed.

Shoichi clutched his stomach. "TOMIKO-CHAN WON'T WAKE UP. DO I NEED TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU?"

"Maa maa." Takeshi pinned Hayato down to a chair. "Calm down, Hayato. Yelling won't get you anywhere."

"I'm going to see Miko-nee." Lambo got off his seat.

"Don't. Do you want to extremely attract attention to Miko?" Ryohei placed Lambo back into his chair.

"But Ryo-nii…"

"Kufufu… Sasagawa is correct. The perverted doctor, my troublesome student, Chrome, the little pillow and the storm arcobaleno will take care of Tomiko-chan. We need to focus on the enemies." Mukuro materialized his trident. "Isn't that right, birdie?"

Kyoya opened his eyes and stared at Shoichi.

Shoichi placed a second hand on his stomach in a sense of foreboding. "H-hibari-san…"

Spanner shook his head with a sigh. "Shoichi. Hurry up and tell them or we will run out of time."

"A-ah…" Shoichi turned his chair and pulled out an envelope with a Vongola wax seal from the table. He turned back to them. "I found some flowers beside Tomiko-chan's bed and this-"

Hayato had the card out of the envelope within a second. He stared at the words in complete silence.

Takeshi blinked. "Hayato, what does it say?"

"… 'The real will defeat the fake.' Then there are some coordinates on the bottom."

"We looked up the coordinates already. They point to this island." Shoichi pressed a button as a map appeared on the screen. "We tried to find the owner of the island but there was no information. As far as I know, it could be uninhabited. That or the owners hid their traces very well."

Kyoya glanced at the map once more. "Irie."

"I know. I prepared it already." Shoichi took out a set of keys.

"Prepared what?"

Everyone stared at the baby on the floor in surprise.

"R-reborn-san! When did you get in here?" Hayato jumped.

Reborn shrugged. "Gokudera, pass me that card." Receiving the card, Reborn examined the content and turned it over a few times. "Vongola seal…" He glanced up. "And that is where the coordinates lead?"

Shoichi nodded. "We believe so. Yes."

"And what have you prepared?"

"Um well… Hibari-san's boat…" Shoichi placed the keys on the table. "We kind of bought a boat a few years ago."

"Shoichi, you can drive a boat?" Spanner looked up curiously.

"Yeah… I got a license… somehow… because of Hibari-san… Tetsuya-san has a license as well, also because of Hibari-san…"

"How big is the boat you own?" Reborn asked.

"Um… I think it could fit about… 20 people?" Shoichi glanced at Kyoya for a response. He got an affirmative. Shoichi nodded. "I modified it a while ago so I don't really remember." He explained.

"I see." Reborn glanced at the seal once more. "Where did you find this card?"

"A herbivore entered the disciplinary office." Kyoya growled.

Mukuro narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He will allow Kyoya to use him as a decoy just this once.

"And you are all going?" Reborn glanced around the room.

"I'm staying." Spanner called from his computer.

"I'm staying as well… I asked Tetsuya-san to drive the boat already." Shoichi glanced at his phone and nodded. "He agreed. I'll lead him to the island from here."

A second glance around the room confirmed that all of the guardians were going. "Bring Tsuna and the Shimon." Reborn silenced all protests by drawing his gun. "I assume that you are all unaware that people who look like an older version of yourself has been appearing all around town recently."

Everyone stared at the baby once more. "R-reborn-san, are you serious?" Hayato asked.

"I saw yours and Yamamoto's exit the hospital." Reborn confirmed, misunderstanding why everyone in the room tensed. "Anyways, I will inform Shimon and Tsuna. We will leave tomorrow morning."

* * *

"Keep at this speed for another minute and turn 13 degrees to the north. You should see the island soon after another minute." Shoichi called from the radio.

"Roger." Kusakabe glanced at the clock on the board.

"Reborn… where are we going?" Tsuna muttered, wary of the solemn aura on all of his guardians.

"…You'll see." was all the baby provided. Which made sense, as he knew as much as Tsuna did.

"I see land." Hayato called. "Turf-top, more flames."

"EXTREME" Infusing flames into the motor, the boat suddenly sped off almost another half it's speed.

Almost everyone got seasick seconds after. Shoichi was really lucky that he didn't board.

…

"Kaichou, we made land." Kusakabe called over the radio. "Kaichou? I can't here you… wait, let me find a better location." Kusakabe slowly walked along the beach, moving the radio.

Reborn narrowed his eyes, hands already on his gun. He could not sense any flames on this island. And while he was already somewhat used to the feeling, he was not used to this location.

The guardians and Shimon walked along the beach carefully, all weary of something leaping out of the bushes or something. Tsuna was too preoccupied with the scenery to do the same.

There was a soft thump and everyone turned to the source, weapons in hand. They froze at the sight.

3yl Yamamoto waved at them. "Yo~ welcome to…" He trailed off.

3yl Gokudera hit him on the head. "Baseball idiot, we never named this island."

"Maa maa… we can name it now."

"Name it 'Lambo-sama's Island'." 3yl Bovino ruffled his thin hair, dodging a punch from 3yl Gokudera. "Sheesh, Gokudera-shi… violent as always."

3yl Bovino dodged a strike from 3yl Rokudo. "Kufufu… such a tasteless name. 'Kokuyo Island' sounds so much more pleasant. Isn't that right, my dear Chrome."

3yl Dokuro bit her lip. "Mukuro-sama… I think-"

"NO, YOU SHOULD EXTREMELY NAME IT EXTREME ISLAND TO THE EXTREME." 3yl Sasagawa demanded.

3yl Gokudera snapped. "WHY ARE YOU EVEN ARGUING? OF COURSE IT SHOULD BE VONGOLA ISLAND. OR DECIMO ISLAND. OR JUUDAIME ISLAND. OR-"

"Herbivores. Shut up or I will bite you to death." 3yl Hibari leapt down from a tree and yawned. He looked at the stunned silent younger 10th generation, Shimon and Reborn. 3yl Hibari smirked. "Wao. I never knew those herbivores could be so silent." He instantly blocked a blow from the younger Kyoya.

"Kufufu… of course he would be the first to attack." 3yl Rokudo tapped his trident onto the ground, dispelling the illusion of the guardians sans 3yl Hibari. The rest of the 3yl guardians appeared on the cliff just above the beach, too far for any of the other younger 10th generation to attack as well.

"Oi, Skylark. Don't take too long. You'll make Juudaime wait." 3yl Gokudera called.

3yl Hibari grunted. Taking out his other tonfa he slashed at Kyoya once, forcing him to jump back to dodge. 3yl Hibari released his tonfa extensions, mirroring Kyoya who had done the same. The two once again lunged at each other, matching attacks and blocks. "Weak. Herbivore, when I was your age, was much stronger." 3yl Hibari taunted. "Is that all you have?"

Kyoya lit his ring and stuffed it into his Vongola box. "…Roll, needle sphere." Roll shot out of the box and instantly propagated.

3yl Hibari smirked. "Roll, needle sphere. Let's see how the herbivore fares against his own moves." With a 'gyuu', Roll appeared in a burst of cloud flames and mirrored the other Roll.

Kyoya narrowed his eyes. Where did the 3yl Hibari's Roll come from? As far as he could tell, there was no box weapon or Roll ring. Which meant…

"Roll, Cambio Forma: Alaude's handcuffs." Kyoya instantly propagated the handcuffs and swung at 3yl Hibari, aiming at his left wrist.

3yl Hibari smirked. "Roll, Cambio Forma: Alaude's handcuffs. So it seems that the herbivore is smarted than he looks." 3yl Hibari's handcuffs matched Kyoya's perfectly, nullifying the attack. "Hn. Then I shall confirm your suspicions, herbivore. Do not regret it." 3yl Hibari smirked at Kyoya's glare, bracelet sliding into view. "Roll, Cambio Forma Version X."

Kyoya quickly dodged the chains of 3yl Hibari's tonfa extensions. This was probably the first time in which Kyoya wished that he had been wrong.

"Herbivore, should I bite you to death, or wait until you grow stronger first and then bite you to death?" 3yl Hibari swung at Kyoya again, who once again could only dodge. "I am sick of fighting weak herbivore." 3yl Hibari sighed. "I thought you could be more of a challenge."

"Hibari-san! Please come back." 3yl Kozato called from the cliff, having joined the rest of the 3yl 10th generation seconds prior.

The entire Shimon gaped. "W-wha?"

3yl Kozato blinked and waved at them with a smile as 3yl Hibari jumped up the cliff using Roll's needle spheres. "Um… Hi. Oh, I'm the only one here. My guardians didn't come with me. I'm just here to help."

"Excuse me, who are you all and why do you all look like Hibari-niisan and the others?" Tsuna was the only person who's brain was able to function enough to ask the question on everyone's mind.

"Che. Do you even need to ask?" 3yl Gokudera smirked and pulled out his necklace, which had a very familiar ring attached to it. "We are the real Vongola Guardians."

The original Vongola storm ring glistened in the sunlight.


	51. SA -4- Penalty

"…'Real'?" Tsuna asked, easily identifying that everyone else around him was brain dead for some reason.

"Che. So no one told you." 3yl Gokudera swung the ring necklace around his fingers.

"EXTREME. THIS IS THE EXTREME ORIGINAL VONGOLA RING" 3yl Sasagawa punched the air in front of him, giving everyone below a clear view of the original vongola sun ring on his finger.

"Kufufu… you were supposed to receive it during the future…" 3yl Rokudo leered at the younger generation. "But for… reasons… Kufufu… it seems that you didn't. Oya oya, I wonder why that is."

"Future? You went to the future as well?" Tsuna asked, oblivious to the hidden insults.

"EXTRME"

"Haha, yeah. We went to the future as well." 3yl Yamamoto laughed. "Though we had a much harder time during the future than you did."

"Damn Marshmallow bastard." 3yl Gokudera growled.

"Maa maa, Tsuna doesn't blame him. Everything's fine now anyways~"

Reborn cocked his gun. "Byakuran is involved with you being here."

3yl Kozato nodded. "Yeah… we couldn't be here without his help."

"Stupid cow." 3yl Gokudera called.

"I'm on it, Gokudera-shi…" 3yl Bovino's horn sparked, instantly directing Reborn's bullets to the ground. "Yare yare, so this Reborn speaks with his gun as well."

"Maa maa, the kid would never change." 3yl Yamamoto laughed. "But kid, I don't think you should move around so much. There is a type of special arcobaleno radiation around this island that restricts your movement. Maa maa, don't worry about it so much though, it is very weak. Won't hurt you at all~"

"Well, we need to get going." The older guardians turned around.

"W-WAIT." The confused people below the cliff instantly dashed towards it. An illusion of 3yl Dokuro appeared in front of them.

"…Ano… I am here to guide you…" the illusion turned around. "Please follow me…"

"Kufufu… Chrome, would you give me an explanation?"

The illusion turned around to face them then slowly shook her head. "…Sorry…" One of the mist earrings swung slightly into view.

Mukuro sighed. "Kufufu… I see."

"Inchou!" Kusakabe ran up to the silent group. "I am unable to contact Kaichou."

"…" Kyoya was glaring at everything he rested his eyes upon. "Guard the boat."

Giving a salute, Kusakabe hightailed it out of there. He did not want to be the target of Kyoya's anger.

"W-what do we do?" Enma stuttered, rubbing his Shimon ring nervously.

"We have no choice but to follow what they say." Reborn clenched his fedora. "They have the vongola gears and full control of this island. Plus they are probably not after anyone's life."

Everyone but the Vongola guardians stepped towards the illusion.

"…Reborn-san… who do you think they are?" Hayato asked, head down. "If they are from another universe or timeline…"

" This world has not collapsed yet. Worry about it later, when we get more information."

Hayato shook his head. "No, not that… its just that…" Reborn patiently for Hayato to finish. "… Their Juudaime…"

"…" Reborn's fedora shadowed his eyes. "If that is the case, then that is another reason why we should do what they say for now."

They silently followed the illusion.

* * *

Chrome led the group into a western mansion. The exterior was plain white and was very simple in design. There was a single clam engraved on both of the double front doors. The illusion passed through the door into the mansion.

Pulling the knob, the door easily opened, revealing a plain, average foyer. It was nothing as grand as the Vongola mansion, nothing decorating the plain beige wall. There wasn't even a carpet lining the large staircase facing the door. The illusion was leaning against one of the stairway railings, waiting for them to refocus on her.

"…Sun…" Chrome gestured the door to the left, which had the symbol of the sun on it. "…Mist…" She gestured the door to the left behind the staircase, which predictably had the symbol of the mist on it. Walking to the other side of the stairs, she pointed to the door to the right, across from the 'Sun hall', which had the cloud symbol on it. "…Cloud…" She pointed to the door behind her, on the right of the staircase, which had the symbol for rain. "…Rain…" Looking up, she pointed to the area to the left. "…Lightning…" Finally she pointed to the area to the right. "…Storm…" She looked back at the group. "…Sky…" She pointed to the door in which they just came through. There was the Vongola crest on the interior side of the door.

Chrome had disappeared by they time they turned back from the door.

"So we split up." Adelheid looked over the foyer once more.

"Ah. Pair up. Shimon with Vongola counterpart. I'll stay with Tsuna." Reborn ordered.

Tsuna nodded as he tried to open the door. It refused to budge.

Mist shrouded the area around the door. "…Ano… you need to enter in order…" Chrome once again disappeared right after she was done.

"In the end, we are going first." Koyo and the extremely silent Ryohei headed towards the sun door. It opened with no resistance. They silently entered the room.

The moment the door shut, a double sided screen rose from the floor. The screen was split into seven, with only the square on the bottom left and the square on the middle lit. The square on the middle showed real time footage of the foyer the rest of the Vongola and Shimon were currently in. The square on the bottom left showed the sun room.

…

Ryohei and Koyo entered the sun room, which was extremely yellow. One of the walls was a screen, identical to the one in the foyer but much larger. Aside from that, the large room was completely empty.

"In the end, aren't you going to yell about how this room is extremely yellow or how that screen is extremely big?" Koyo asked. He was asking because he was curious, not because of how he was concerned about how Ryohei was uncharacteristically silent, Koyo told himself.

Ryohei shrugged.

"…" Koyo was not sure what he should say in such a situation.

"EXTREME" 3yl Sasagawa barged into the room from above.

Koyo gaped as he looked up. There was no ceiling in the room. He refocused onto 3yl Sasagawa, briefly noting the highly visible video camera at the corner of the room.

"EXTREME WE SHOULD HAVE AN EXTREME SPAR. KANGARYUU" 3yl Sasagawa's Kangaryuu appeared with a burst of sun flames.

Koyo turned to Ryohei and regretted not covering his ears.

"EXTREME LET'S HAVE AN EXTREME SPAR. KANGARYUU YOU SHOULD EXTREMELY COME OUT AS WELL." Ryohei lit his ring and opened his box weapon. "I'VE ALWAYS EXTREMELY WANTED TO HAVE AN EXTREME SPAR WITH MYSELF TO THE EXTREME."

Koyo's chin almost reached the floor. Ryohei was silent the entire time because he was excited to fight himself?!

…

The square on the upper left of the screen lit as Mukuro and Julie entered the mist room. It was almost identical to the sun room except it was indigo.

"Kufufu…"

"Kufufufu…" 3yl Rokudo and 3yl Dokuro materialized in the room.

"Kufufufufu…" Mukuro materialized his trident.

"Kufufufufufu…" 3yl Rokudo did the same.

Julie desire to leave the room due to the crazy pineapples was greater than his desire to stay and chat with 3yl Dokuro.

"…Mukuro-samas…" 3yl Dokuro sighed.

"Oya oya, my dear Chrome, do not group me with this pineapple head." 3yl Rokudo twirled his trident.

"Kufufu… 'pineapple head'? Oya oya, I believe you are growing old. Care for some eyeglasses? Or perhaps Daemon Spade's lenses." Mukuro defended his hair, not noticing 3yl Rokudo tense slightly.

"Kufufufufufufu… Old? I do not deny that I am older than you." 3yl Rokudo slammed his trident onto the ground. "As I am also much superior than you are, in every single way."

"Kufufufufufufufu… Are you sure?" Mukuro dodged an illusory column of fire. "While it is true that I have neither the original vongola mist ring nor the mist vongola gear, I do have something that you do not." Mukuro pulled out all three of his Hell rings. "I have walked down the path of reincarnation once more than you have." He slammed his trident down onto the ground, infusing the power of all three hell rings into it. "Welcome to hell."

Julie was crouched down at the corner of the room, protecting himself from the insane pineapples. 3yl Dokuro had long put her strongest defensive barrier up around her.

…

Kyoya and Adelheid entered the cloud room, which was predictably the same as the others except it was purple. The square on the lower right corner of the screen lit up.

Kyoya attacked 3yl Hibari on his way down from above.

"Hn. Violent weak herbivore." 3yl Hibari activated his Cambio Forma version X. "So you continue to bare your fake fangs."

Kyoya smirked. "Only herbivores rely on their equipment to win." He twirled his tonfas. "I know every single weakness of the cloud vongola gear."

"Wao, so the little herbivore is going to use his brain." 3yl Hibari released his modified tonfa extensions. "Herbivore, if you are weak, I will bite you to death."

Kyoya released his own tonfa extensions. "Not brain. Skill. I have much more skill than you do." Kyoya smoothly nullified the attack of 3yl Hibari. "If you bore me, I will bite you to death."

Adelheid quietly took a seat at the side of the room.

…

The upper right square of the screen lit up as Takeshi and Kaoru entered the blue room.

Takeshi waved. "Haha yo~ Do you like sushi and baseball?"

3yl Yamamoto smiled back. "Haha yup~ How about milk and the sword?"

"Of course~" Takeshi laughed. He held his hand out. "Let's have some fun together."

3yl Yamamoto took the hand and they shared a friendly handshake. "Sure. Lots of fun."

"…" Kaoru stared at the laughing duo, watching them play baseball with a ball and bat which had magically appeared. "…You're not sword fighting…?"

Both Takeshi and 3yl Yamamoto froze mid-swing. "Ahahaha oh yeah." Takeshi scratched his head.

"Maa maa, we can sword fight now." 3yl Yamamoto reassured them.

"Ok~" Takeshi took out his sword.

…

The square to the left of the middle screen lit as Lambo and Rauji entered the green room.

"Yare yare, why must I spend time with a brat?" 3yl Bovino stood up. "I hate brats."

"Yare yare, brat? Are you talking about yourself?" Lambo hopped off of Rauji's shoulder. "If you give me some candy, I might let you be my servant."

A tick mark formed on 3yl Bovino's head. "Servant? Who would want to be your servant, you snot-nosed brat. Besides I am older than you. Treat your elders with respect."

Lambo stuck his tongue out at 3yl Bovino. "No." He turned to Rauji. "Rauji, go fight him."

Rauji blinked. "You're not going to do it yourself, Lambo-san?"

"Can't. I used all of my grenades. I only have rocket launchers left. If I use it on that brat, he will cry."

3yl instantly activated his Cambio Forma version X. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BRAT?! I WON'T CRY."

Lambo calmly pulled out 2 rocket launchers.

3yl Bovino ran around the room crying.

…

The final square lit when Hayato and Shitt P. entered the red room.

Hayato gave 3yl Gokudera a slight nod of acknowledgement before turning to face the large screen. He stared intently at the middle square.

Shitt P. silently stayed at the side of the room. She was sensible enough to leave Hayato alone right now.

3yl Gokudera was stunned at the lack of noise and action, having expected Hayato to attack him the moment he entered the room. Was this the really Gokudera Hayato he knew?

"Hey." Hayato called 3yl Gokudera back to earth. "Are you going to be a proper right-hand man and serve Juudaime no matter what happens?"

"Of course. I will remain loyal to my sky forever." 3yl Gokudera replied instantly. "… are you not the same?"

"Loyalty…" Hayato muttered. "You are lucky, to belong to a different world." He sighed. "To have a clear resolve, not shrouded by conflicting feelings." Hayato turned to face 3yl Gokudera. "Stay with your sky for all eternity."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

"Yeah." Hayato turned back to the screen. "I guess you don't."

…

Tsuna, Enma and Reborn went through the front door and found themselves in an orange room instead of the front yard they were expecting. The real time video of the foyer in the middle of the screen was replaced by the orange room.

Everyone froze as 3yl fluffy Sawada entered the room. He smiled towards the camera, stirring a huge wave of nostalgia into the younger generation.

3yl fluffy Sawada turned towards Tsuna. "Pleased to meet you… Sawada Tsunayoshi. I would be the Sawada Tsunayoshi… of a different realm."

Tsuna ignored the sudden slight ringing in his head. "You look very similar to Vongola Primo."

3yl fluffy Sawada chuckled. "Yes… I hear that a lot." He glanced at the screen once before refocusing on Tsuna. "The reason why we chose to appear before you and your guardians now is for your Vongola sky box. May I please have Natsu?"

"No." Reborn instantly answered for Tsuna. "Why do you need Natsu? Don't you have your own?"

3yl fluffy Sawada smiled. "I'm sorry Reborn. I can't say, especially because it is you." He put his hands into his pocket. "However, I really do need Natsu…"

"Dame-Tsuna. Put me down. He is an opponent you can't underestimate." Reborn commanded. Tsuna instantly set Reborn onto the floor from his shoulder and wore both brass knuckles, lighting them with wrath flames.

3yl fluffy Sawada instantly wore his 27 mittens and entered Hyper Dying Will Mode. The X-gloves version Vongola ring lit up on his hands. "Hie! Reborn, are you serious?" He dodged an attack from Enma. "…Enma-kun, you as well?"

"I'm sorry, Tsuna-kun. This is the fastest way to get answers…" Enma fired another gravity ball at 3yl fluffy Sawada.

"Dame-Tsuna. There is no need to hold back. Attack with everything you have. It's almost impossible to damage that other Dame-Tsuna anyways." Reborn shot a rain of bullets at 3yl fluffy Sawada, who easily dodged every single one of them without his feet even needing to lift from the ground.

"Reborn… that's an exaggeration. Besides, I am not trying to hurt anyone." 3yl fluffy Sawada flew into the sky with his gloves in anticipation for their next move.

Reborn held his fedora over his eyes. "…You are the most dangerous when you aren't trying to hurt anyone."


	52. SA -5- Oath

**Urara S. H: **Ahaha... there are 2 reasons why i called 3yl tsuna fluffy. First, it was to establish that his appearance is the canon tsuna appearance. the second reason... it's cause 3yl tsuna was in my original outline as 'fluffy tsuna' (i didn't do the last name=3yl thing at that point) and i found it cute and decided to keep it... yeah. Sorry if its a bit distracting...

* * *

Even without underestimating him, 3yl fluffy Sawada was a very formidable opponent. In fact, the difference in power was so apparent that 3yl fluffy Sawada left the air for the ground. He was wasting more energy flying than dodging and blocking attacks thrown at him.

The power difference was not a surprise. Reborn was restricted through the radiation the 3yl generation had laced all over the island. Tsuna was not familiar with using his recently acquired wrath flames and could barely sustain a hyper dying will mode for more than 2 minutes. Enma was the main attack force, however his ring was still unsealed and he had to rely on the limited flames he could produce to do damage.

"…" Reborn abruptly stopped shooting and glared. He did not just run out of bullets.

Feeling the glare, both Enma and Tsuna flailed, finding new energy to attack their hearts out. Unfortunately, both of them were running very low on energy while 3yl fluffy Sawada was still at full stamina.

"Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna shuddered, breathing deeply. "R-reborn. I-I…"

Reborn growled. "Enter Hyper mode again."

"R-reborn-san… Sawada-san is exhausted by now…" Enma weakly stuttered.

"Then you do something." Reborn's patience was thinner than an onion peel.

"…" Enma sighed. He was exhausted, much more exhausted than Reborn and Tsuna combined. Enma looked up at the sky. …Tomiko-chan… what do I do…?

A sudden warmth welded up from within Enma. With a sudden burst of energy, he fired a ball of flames at 3yl fluffy Tsuna and jumped back from recoil. "Eh?" Enma blinked. He stared at his hands. "EH?!" Turning to the screen, he focused on himself. "EHH?!"

Everyone stared at Enma in complete surprise. Even the 3yl Vongolas did not hide their shock.

"O-oath flames?!" Enma stared at his hands again, which were fluttering with oath flames. They fluctuated with his emotions. "H-how?"

3yl fluffy Sawada blinked then slowly smiled. "I see." He chuckled gently. "It is amazing… how much she loves you all."

Kyoya froze.

Sorting his thoughts through his head, he looked up and faced the camera in the corner of the arena. "Irie Shoichi." He mouthed. "For lying, I will Bite. You. To. Death."

Irritation spiking to astronomical levels, he instantly infused massive amounts of cloud flames into his tonfa and swiftly swung at 3yl Hibari's right arm in a feint. 3yl Hibari defended his right arm as Kyoya expected. With his other tonfa, Kyoya forcefully knocked the cloud bracelet off of 3yl Hibari's left wrist. Kyoya flipped away from the slightly stunned 3yl Hibari and picked up the VG off of the floor. The Vongola cloud box weapon combined with the VG with a swirl of cloud flames.

Kyoya slid the cloud bracelet onto his left wrist and activated his VG. "Roll, Cambio Forma version X." The modified tonfa extensions lashed straight at 3yl Hibari, who scrambled to dodged.

Kyoya smirked at him. "Hn. For theft, break-and-enter and fraud, I will arrest you."

3yl Hibari coated himself with a burst of cloud flames. When the flames lifted, a highly irritated Alaude appeared. "For plagiarism, I will arrest you."

"You committed that crime first, herbivore. For that, I will bite you to death."

The two clouds began a very violent duel.

Adelheid gaped from the sidelines. "F-first generation Vongola?!"

…

From the other arenas, the others had a similar reaction.

"YOU MEAN THE DAMN PINK BASTARD HAS BEEN IMPERSONATING ME THE ENTIRE TIME?!" Hayato screamed.

"MY HAIR IS NOT PINK, YOU BRAT." 3yl Gokudera screamed back.

"Kufufu… which means that you would be Daemon Spade. And you…" Mukuro focused on the 3yl Dokuro.

"Sorry… Mukuro-sama…" 3yl Dokuro took the pineapple hair tuff clip off her hair and removed the eyepatch. "I put on some makeup…"

"Kufufu… it's alright, my dear Chrome." Mukuro turned to 3yl Rokudo. "So it seems like I get another opportunity to crush the pervert again."

"Nufufu… who are you calling a pervert? I am devoted to my dear Elena even now, unlike someone who mingles with whomever benefits them at the moment."

"Why aren't any of you shocked?!" Screamed the true pervert in the room. "Don't tell me that its common for the first generation to wander around." Julie, like all of the other Shimon, were confused at the lack of reaction from the Vongola.

Takeshi laughed at the question. They were indeed used to seeing the first generation randomly floating around the Vongola mansion in the past. It was apparently terribly boring inside the ring after all. "Haha kinda. So… how long are you guys going to stay in that form?"

3yl Yamamoto smiled. "We will return to our original forms after you take the Vongola gears, as the little cloud did to Alaude. That is one of the other reasons why we are here."

"It extremely is?" 3yl Sasagawa asked.

"Haha… isn't it?" 3yl Yamamoto scratched his head.

"THEN EXTREME" 3yl Sawagawa screamed. "LITTLE SUN. I WILL EXTREMELY RETURN YOUR VG TO YOU AFTER WE FINISH OUR EXTREME SPAR." He clasped his hands together to perform a short prayer.

"THANKS TO THE EXTREME" Ryohei shouted and they continued their spar.

"…" Koyo patted his ears to check if they were still working. He sighed in relief. "Tell me that the first generation sun guardian isn't this loud normally…"

"WHO CARES ABOUT THAT." Lambo pulled on his hair. "How am I supposed to take off a full suit of body armour?! Rauji…"

Rauji shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lambo-san… there aren't any rocks around here."

Lambo dumped the contents of his hair onto the floor. 14 rocket launchers, 3 bags of candy, 8 lollipops, Gyuudon's vongola box, a black vongola box and the 10 year bazooka. "…Gyahaha, my older self can fix the problem for me~" Lambo fired the 10 year bazooka.

The pink smoke slowly lifted, revealing the TYL Lambo.

"Yare yare… just when I finally got a break…" Older Lambo stared around the room once before focusing on 3yl Bovino. "Ah. It's the old man."

3yl Bovino was not amused. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN OLD MAN. YOU ARE OLDER THAN I AM."

Older Lambo yawned. "Not close, old man. We have an 800 year age difference." He glanced at the screen. "Gokudera-shi, I have a letter from your older self. I'll put it here…" Lambo fished an envelope out of his pocket and set it on the ground.

Hayato blinked, not having expected to get a letter. "…Thanks, stupid cow. Now go get that VG from the old man before you run out of time."

Lambo shrugged. "It seems that my younger self does not know that the old man isn't a lightning rod…" He shrugged and picked up the black Vongola box. "What's this doing here?"

"Your younger self found it in his hair, older Lambo-san." Rauji explained. "Is it not yours?"

"…" Lambo glanced at the camera in the corner of the room. "Nah, this is… Momo-nee's box weapon. Sho-nii made it based on a hypothesis: if the sky ring can open any box, then a sky box can be opened by any ring." Lambo tossed the black box into the air and caught it again. "Then he came up with this. A Vongola Sky box that can be opened by any of the seven Vongola rings or with Vongola flames. Such as this one." Lambo took out his original Vongola lightning ring.

Reborn stared at the ring. "Oi stupid cow. Is that…"

"?" Lambo glanced at Reborn through the screen then back down at his ring. "Original Vongola lightning ring." He shrugged. "You guys will get it eventually." Lighting the ring, he stuffed it inside the black box. "Come out, Kohime."

A lightning phoenix flew out of the box and circled around Lambo once, before finally landing on his shoulder. Lambo smirked. "If I remember correctly, the wall behind the old man is the ocean." He stretched and adjusted his horns. "Alright then. THUNDER SET."

Lightning was summoned down to Lambo, who infused all of the flames into the bird. Kohime hovered above Lambo's shoulder when she was satisfied with the large quantity of lightning flames.

Lambo laughed. "I've wanted to do this for so long. Rauji stand behind me." Rauji quickly moved as Lambo instructed. With a very mischievous smirk, Lambo raised a hand in front of him and another behind him, in a very familiar position.

"Let's dance, Kohime. X-Burner: Lightning."

A massive beam of lightning flames shot out of the phoenix's mouth and straight at poor 3yl Bovino.

When the dust cleared, the green wall had completely disintegrated, revealing a clear view of the ocean. Lambo walked forward and picked up the lightning helmet VG off the ground. The lightning Vongola box combined with the VG in a swirl of lightning flames. Lambo laughed. "That was so much fun."

Hayato was the first to recover from shock. "OI STUPID COW. YOU JUST DESTROYED THE FIRST GENERATION LIGHTNING GUARDIAN."

"Yare yare, don't worry, Gokudera-shi. That old man was just a bunch of lightning flames. He probably returned to the ring crying." Lambo shrugged. "Muku-nii can use the perverted old man's lenses to confirm it."

"Kufufu…" Mukuro instantly activated his Cambio Forma. "Indeed. It is like as the cow says. They are merely a bunch of flames whose existence is linked to a source." Mukuro glanced at the camera at the corner of the room. "Oya oya, I wonder where the source is…" He gave a creepy smile then refocused on 3yl Rokudo. "Kufufufufu… if you are merely a bunch of flames then I can have a lot of fun with you…" He glanced at Chrome. "I assume that I would not need to take your half of the Mist VG."

"Hai, Mukuro-sama. I will return it to you when you take Spade-san's." Chrome confirmed.

"Kufufufufufufufu… excellent. Well then, Daemon Spade, shall we play a little game?"

Julie ended up fainting seconds later due to brain failure from the indescribable illusions.

Lambo shrugged. "Well my time is almost up." He set the lightning VG next to all of the other junk his younger self laid out on the floor and once again looked at the camera at the corner of the room. "Ah right… I need to tell Momo-nee that I-pin has suspicions…" He smiled and waved at the camera. "See you soon."

A puff of pink smoke shrouded the room.

The smoke cleared, revealing younger Lambo eating a large slice of cake. "Gyahaha, see. My older self will take care of all my problems~" Lambo glanced out the no longer existing wall. "Wow, nice view."

…

Hayato had buried his head into his hands. "Stupid cow… you spent too much time with violent destructive crazy people in your childhood…"

3yl Gokudera sweat dropped. "Oi. Shouldn't you be more concerned with yourself and everyone else first instead of your past mistakes?"

Hayato shrugged. "There is no need to be concerned over them. The baseball freak will probably make up some crazy move on the spot and get the necklace. Turf-top is just playing around right now. Stupid cow already has the helm, same with the damn skylark. I am honestly more concerned about the pervert over the pineapple. And as for me…" Hayato pulled out his System CAI. "I completely upgraded this thing multiple times so I doubt I would have any trouble against you." He shrugged. "Well I guess it's a good opportunity to test it against a target."

Taking the VG from 3yl Gokudera was one of the easiest things Hayato has ever done.

* * *

"… Why are you doing this exactly?" Reborn asked, slightly uncertain of how he should treat 3yl fluffy Sawada, now knowing who he was.

3yl fluffy Sawada returned to being Giotto in a burst of sky flames. "… This was to train them. However, I would still like Natsu."

Reborn held his fedora. "Why? Do you not recognize Tsuna as Vongola Decimo?"

Giotto sighed slightly. "The Vongola Sky lion is not suitable for Sawada Tsunayoshi. However, I will allow the opportunity for you to prove me wrong." He held up the sky VG. "If you defeat me, I will present you with this." The X-gloves version vongola ring shone slightly as he hid the VG in his clothes. "Please make the first move."

Tsuna nodded and coated his brass knuckles with wrath flames. With a quick step, he charged at Giotto.

Enma was frozen at the sidelines, uncertain of whether or not he should assist Tsuna. He turned around when he felt a finger tap his shoulder. He promptly stepped backwards, tripped and fell down on his butt due to extreme astonishment. "P-p-p…"

Cozart smiled at him. "Hello~" He took a step forward.

Enma scurried 2 steps backwards with all four of his limbs, still on the floor. While he was not particularly surprised at the sight of the first generation Vongola (as he was one of the rare few who knew that the first generation were Tsuna's hidden advisers) he was absolutely flabbergast at the sight of Shimon Primo.

Still smiling, Cozart took another step forward, only for Enma to scurry another 2 steps back. Cozart covered his hand with his mouth, trying to hold in his laughter, as he took another step forward. Enma once again scurried 2 steps back.

"Cozart, stop teasing your descendant."

"But he is so cute, Giotto. He looks like me but doesn't act anything like me. So different from yours."

Giotto chuckled, dodging a punch from Tsuna. "Mine is very cute as well."

Cozart shook his head in exasperation and decided to ignore Giotto. "My dear descendant, let me see your oath flames." He held up a familiar vial. "I will give this to you afterwards."

Enma gaped. "Is that… 'Sin'…? But i-isn't it still in a vault in Vongola…?"

"Vault in Vongola? Giotto, why are you treating my blood like some sort of heirloom."

Giotto shrugged, stepping back to dodge a high kick from Tsuna. "I forgot why I had it originally, however Ricardo found it in my former room one day and decided to carry a tradition using your blood. I doubt he knew it was yours though." He flipped over Tsuna once his foot tapped the wall to gain more room.

"Yeah, he probably thought it was yours, considering how he named it something like 'Sin'." Cozart shook the vial gently. "I got this from Talbot. He had a sample of my blood on him without my knowledge." He glanced at Giotto. "Did he have your blood as well?"

Giotto sighed, deflecting a punch. "Yes… I do not want to know how he got it though." He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "And I do not want to know why he named it 'Penalty'…"

Cozart chuckled. "Maybe you made him too angry one day."

"And he named it 'Penalty' to as a reminder? Surely Talbot has a better naming sense than that." Giotto shook his head, sidestepping another punch. "Cozart, you should stop wasting time and go test your descendant."

"My cute descendant." Cozart correct Giotto. He walked up to Enma, who was still on the floor, and lifted his chin to examine his face. He smiled. "Ah~ He really is cute. She agreed as well."

"…" Giotto did a feint and turned to the other direction. "Of course she would. Anything to get you off her back all the time."

Cozart laughed. "Ah, I see. You are jealous that I could get breaks while you couldn't." Cozart led the highly embarrassed Enma up to his feet. "Come on, Giotto, you stuck to her like glue for so long already. A little change in lifestyle wouldn't hurt once in a while."

"The 'little change in lifestyle' almost led to her death. Again."

Cozart gave a nervous laugh. "She is just a little… accident prone…"

"…" Giotto kicked Cozart in the shin.

Enma flailed at Cozart's in-pain expression. "Oww, Giotto. I get it. I get it." Cozart turned to Enma and stared at the flames on his head, which had still been gently flickering around the entire time. He smiled. "Show me. The flames of Oath that signifies the bond between the sky and the earth." He looked around for something for Enma to punch. "… I think that wall is the one that faces the ocean…" Cozart dragged Enma to a wall and tapped it. He shrugged. "Eh, probably. Now, my cute descendant, punch this wall."

After determining that his ancestor was serious about this crazy idea, Enma pulled his hand back slightly and gently tapped the wall with his fist. It disintegrated upon contact. Both earths stared at the beautiful sunset at the ocean horizon.

"… Ahaha… I guess we should finish up and head home soon…" Cozart suggested, glancing at the camera in the corner of the room. "I'll give you 'Sin' later… Giotto, we'll be outside."

Enma was thinking along the lines of 'thank goodness it was the correct wall…' before nodding. The two earths walked out of the room through the ex-wall.

Giotto refocused on Tsuna. "That is enough. I do commend you for learning how to utilize your flames this efficiently this quickly however my previous statement still stands. The Vongola Sky lion is not suitable for you, as with the sky Vongola Gear in which I currently possess."

Reborn clenched his fist. "I agree." He nodded, signalling Tsuna to do as his ancestor requested. Reborn watched as Tsuna handed Natsu's box to Vongola Primo. "Does this mean that you do not recognize him as the next Vongola successor?"

"Arcobaleno." Giotto turned to him. "Whether or not I recognize him as the next successor of Vongola does not change anything. I have no control of who leads Vongola next as long as the candidate has Vongola blood. My opinion does not matter to you." He turned to the screen and addressed his remaining guardians, whom had all returned back to their original forms by now. "I believe it is time for us to take our leave. Little cloud, the radio signals should be re-established. Please return home before it gets any darker." Giving a slight bow, Giotto disappeared in a burst of sky flames.


	53. SA -E- Pride (Blood)

Shoichi turned off the screen he placed in the hospital room after everyone left the island. It was identical to all of the other screens on the island and showed the same real time footage.

"…" Tomiko rubbed her temple as 7 canaries materialized in the room, joining the green canary on the table. "May I have an explanation?"

"Ahaha… uh… " Shoichi trailed off.

Tomiko sighed. "Let's start with the very beginning… why did I need to be in a temporary coma?"

"Realism, Miko-hime." Fran answered. "Easier to trick the more realistic it is."

"Trick? The only person who would…" Tomiko groaned. "Why would you need to trick Kyoya?"

"It is more fun this way. If Hibari-senpai found out earlier then the game would end."

The blue canary (Daebird) corrected Fran. "Nufufu… incorrect. We need had a scenario planned. A scenario in which we were the 10th generation from an alternate universe."

"Haha, but the little frog is right. If the little cloud found out, then the scenario wouldn't work." The plain black canary (Asabird) amended.

"Che. It would still work." The pink canary (Gibird) cut in. "We planned it enough to ensure that it would still work."

Tomiko face palmed. "Plan…? Did you actually have a plan?"

The spiky black canary with a dash above its beak (Exbird) nodded. "We extremely did. We extremely planned to have god guide us."

"In other words, you had no plan." Tomiko glared at them, not amused. "Weren't you guys complaining about how Shiro-chan didn't follow the plan which caused a mess?"

"It's because the mare child did not work as well with a plan that we decided to not have one. We did draw the outlines and set goals though." The spiky yellow canary (Giobird) explained. "Tomiko, don't get mad. It all worked out in the end."

"Indeed." The red canary (Shibird) agreed. "We were able to play with them, they got their VGs and Sawada Tsunayoshi got training."

"Hibari-senpai is after Irie-senpai's blood and Reborn-senpai is even more annoyed than before." Fran continued.

Shoichi at this time was frantically looking at all the exits in the hospital room, trying to figure out what he should do when Kyoya arrives.

"All of that was unnecessary. You could have just handed them the VG the normal way. Same with the training." Tomiko sighed. "Without needing to anger Reborn or Kyoya."

"If we did it the normal way, then it wouldn't have been as entertaining." The platinum blond canary (Alaubird) stated.

"Entertaining? You had the most entertainment'. Try getting blasted with a huge beam of lightning flames." The green canary (Lambird) complained.

Alaubird smirked.

"So basically you just wanted to play around." Tomiko deadpanned.

"No. We also did it for this." Giobird reformed into Giotto with a burst of sky flames. He reached into his pocket and took out the sky VG. "Now you have your Vongola Sky lion again." He placed the ring on the table.

Tomiko smile softly as she touched the ring. "Natsu."

"GAO~" Natsu exited the ring and pounced on her, licking her cheek happily. Tomiko petted him.

"I will return this as well." Giotto placed the 27 mittens on the table.

Tomiko blinked. "I was wondering for a while now. When did you get the X-gloves from Tsuna?"

"Future… after you collapsed-" The door slammed opened.

"Herbivore. For lying, I will bite you to death."

"WAIT" Shoichi dashed to the other side of the room. "I didn't lie. When I said they were in the mansion I meant the mansion on the island. I never said they were in the Asari mansion."

Kyoya glared at him, not amused in the slightest. "I will still bite you to death." He turned to Tomiko abruptly. "And you for pretending to be in a coma."

Tomiko raised both hands as Natsu cowered behind her. "I deny all involvement with the planning of whatever Giotto and the others were doing. I was a victim, Kyoya. If you want to bite someone, bite Giotto."

"Tomiko…" Giotto wailed. "Are you still angry at me?"

"What do you think?" Tomiko narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "If you guys were bored, there are many other ways to kill that boredom instead of staging something as excessive as that." She pointed at the pile of paperwork on the side. "Because I was in a coma for two days, I lost so much time doing the paperwork that piled up from before. Plus there is the paperwork associated with the creation of all those Gola Mosca and etcetera. And you removed Kyoya, Shoichi, Tetsuya-san, Chrome and I from Namichu. Poor Kyoko was left all alone. Even if the students are extremely orderly for some reason," She eyed Kyoya. "It does not mean that there is no paperwork still to do. Did you forget that the exams start in a week? Thank god Kyoko could still receive help from Hana."

Shoichi flailed. "T-tomiko-chan, I'll take over from Kyoko starting tomorrow."

"Kyoya." Tomiko turned to Kyoya, who had walked up to the pile of paperwork Tomiko gestured earlier to see what exactly was in the pile. "Can you remove this now?" She shook the chain on her foot. Kyoya did as she asked, as it was very obvious that her patience was much thinner than before. The cuff dispersed into cloud and earth flames.

Tomiko stretched and finally stood up after being trapped on the bed for a few days. "Giotto, I'm banning cake for a month."

Giotto gaped. "Tomiko, please forgive me… don't ban cake…" The other first generation birds had intelligently hid themselves from Tomiko's view before she derived them of stuff as well.

Opening the empty cake fridge on the side of her bed, Tomiko shook her head. "You exhausted my cake supply the last time you came and I didn't have any time to bake more."

"Tomiko, my dear, I'll do that pile of paperwork. Please don't ban cake for a month…"

"Really?" Tomiko's eyes shone. "All of it?"

Giotto rapidly nodded. Anything to not be banned of cake. Even if he had to suffer through paperwork, the bane of his existence.

"Alright then. I'll forgive you, papa."

**SHIMON ARC END**


	54. PA -1- Childhood of the Sky 1:2

Tsuna just stared at the face in front of him.

He had been preparing within the womb. Preparing what to say, preparing his personality. He had decided to keep his clumsiness, though toned down, and keep his intelligence average at best. He was ready to help his mother in the house more to make up for leaving her in the far future. If it goes well, perhaps he can also convince his father to stay at Namimori longer.

His preparations had to be altered when he realized he was a she. She freaked out at first, but soon realized that nothing will really change even if she was born a girl. So she continued planning, thinking of how the others will react when they learn that she is a girl and so on. Before she knew it, it was time for her birth.

Reality is harsh.

Tsuna just stared, wondering where he went wrong. The tri-ni-sette had responded properly. He made sure of it, as the last person to be transferred. Perhaps Tsuna simply died. That was possible, but she quickly dismissed the idea when she realized that she was being held by a wet nurse, who was making sure that she was breathing since Tsuna didn't cry upon arriving. Now Tsuna really wanted to cry. She felt both helpless and confused. Staring at her father with tears in her eyes, she realized that all hope was not lost. There was recognition in his eyes.

Giotto stared back at her. That was all he could do. He simply silently stared at her. Within his mind, however, a battlefield had erupted. Why is my cute great-great-great grandson here? What am I supposed to do now? He was so lost that he didn't even realize that his great-great-great grandson was a girl.

G, hearing the sudden silence, (as Giotto's wife had fallen asleep and there was no sound of a baby crying) entered the room to see Giotto stunned. He laughed out loud. That snapped Giotto back into reality and he finally looked at the wet nurse, who was very confused by Giotto's reaction. Smiling at her, he thanked and dismissed her, as he knew how to take care of a newborn baby and needed some time alone with 'him'. The nurse decided to leave, since her job was technically done and it seemed like the father's brain was functioning again.

After she left the room, Giotto carefully held the child and looked at her. The child's golden eyes stared back. G finally decided to break the silence. "Oi Giotto, is there something wrong with the kid?"

Giotto, ignoring G, continued to look at the child and asked carefully. "Are you… Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna nodded.

G stared at the scene like it was a prank and made a choking sound.

Giotto ignored G. "Do you know where you are?"

Tsuna shook her head.

"We are in Japan… 400 years before you were supposed to be born."

Tsuna began to sob as reality finally crashed and burned on her.

Giotto bounced her gently, trying to calm her down, as he finally addressed G. "Call the other guardians and Talbot. This includes Daemon and Cozart."

G was snapped out of his gaping. "Are you serious? Is this seriously Decimo? Tell me you are joking." He gave a nervous chuckle.

Giotto just signed. "I wish I were joking. I'm sure Tsunayoshi would also wish this was all a joke. But we don't have time for that. Call the others and Talbot."

G flew out of the room, hitting himself to check if it was all a bad dream. It wasn't.

* * *

Talbot was the last to arrive, having boarded a slower ship than Daemon, Cozart and the other guardians. He wandered into Giotto's house, thinking it was a huge ruse to gather the guardians and Cozart again. It was a strong possibility after all, and it was much more likely than…

His train of thought was cut off when he finally saw the child. The child, being a baby, had no distinct features to show that she was Vongola Decimo. In fact, judging by purely appearance, this would be the last person he would guess as Sawada Tsunayoshi. The gender was wrong and the eye color was wrong, though it was a beautiful color, he mused. No, physically, the baby was a regular child. Unfortunately, the regular child had startlingly pure sky flames gently radiating from her. It wasn't noticeable from a distance, fortunately for Giotto and the child. Unfortunately, that does not change the fact that the baby was undeniably Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"Ho. So it seems that we meet again, though much earlier than expected."

"Talbot…" Giotto sighed. "Can you help her?"

"Hoho, You know, Giotto, I am not some type of miracle worker. Even I would have difficulties sending someone 400 years into the future." Tsuna's face fell at that statement. "However, I will give an attempt…" Talbot trailed off.

"Talbot?" Giotto blinked.

"She is your child?" Talbot suddenly asked.

Giotto nodded.

"What happened in the original timeline?"

"The child was stillborn… Talbot, is something the matter?"

Talbot gave an unreadable expression. "No… I was just wondering… This is merely a theory but… if this child exists here and now, then perhaps there would be another 'Sawada Tsunayoshi' 400 years in the future…"

Tsuna did not even try to hold in her tears.

"Talbot. Are you serious?" G was openly gaping. "Then what is Decimo supposed to do?"

"Like I said, it was only a hypothesis. In any case, it is impossible for her to be the child of Sawada Iemitsu and Sawada Nana this time. Whether or not they have a different child is a separate issue." Talbot patted Tsuna until she calmed down. "Do you have any idea why you were sent to this era?"

"…" Tsuna shook her head.

"I see. Well, our best bet is to see if the Tri-ni-sette can help… however considering how the bearer of Mare does not exist yet and the Arcobaleno of this era do not recognize you, there will be some challenges."

"Allow me to assist you."

Everyone turned to the person who entered the room in absolute surprise. None of them had even felt her until she spoke.

Sepira walked up to Tsuna and gave her a smile. "Pleased to meet you, successor of Vongola. I am Sepira of the Giglio Nero… the one who has given your father the Vongola rings. I thank you for taking care of my descendants and kinsman in a different timeline."

Tsuna blinked at her, confused. "You know of a different timeline?"

Sepira tapped her forehead. "I had a vision. A very interesting vision. One that spanned beyond what I could normally see. One that may not be a vision at all." She took a step back. "With my power, the help of the inventor and the time of Vongola, you could potentially travel to the era in which you originated from. However, the inventor's hypothesis stands correct: your existence as 'Sawada Tsunayoshi' is replaced by another." Sepira glanced around the room before refocusing on Tsuna. "Let me ask you. Are you sure you want to attempt to travel 400 years into the future even with the strong chance of failure? You could always start a new life here, at this time period."

Tsuna shook her head. "I want to see them again…"

Sepira smiled. "Then we shall make our attempts. Now what is your name, little one?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone turned to Giotto, who had evidently forgotten to name his daughter in the whole chaos.

"Tomiko." Giotto finally decided. "She will be Tomiko, as derived from 'Toku-hime', the daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu."

"Then Tomiko, allow me to make a request." Tomiko turned to Sepira. "A simple request. If we do succeed, please save my descendants once again."

Tomiko nodded. "I will do my best."

* * *

With the common goal in mind, all of the first generation, Talbot and Sepira worked together secretly to figure a way to send Tomiko to the future. Giotto, with the assistance of Ricardo, erased all traces of Tomiko ever being born. She had no legal identification or records anywhere, both in and out of Vongola. She never even had a birth certificate.

"Tomiko." Cozart walked into her room. "What is your last name?"

"Hm? I don't think Giotto gave me one yet, why?" Tomiko asked, curiously.

"Oh well…" Cozart picked Tomiko up and led her to the room he came from. The first generation guardians were sitting around a long table and had listed down every single name which had memories of the original timeline on a board.

"What are you guys doing?"

G looked up with a smirk. "A bet." He gestured the names. "We are betting over who would figure you out first."

"A bet?" Tomiko looked over the list. "Are you all betting?"

"All but I." Cozart clarified. "Since I do not know who these people are in any case."

Tomiko was very amused by the idea of the bet. It doubled as both entertainment and as reassurance, reassurance that the first generation was going to put in their all to help her travel to a different era. "Let me join as well. Not as part of the actual bet, but so I could pitch in a set of default answers."

Ugetsu handed her a piece of paper and a pen, laughing. "Haha, yours are going to be the most accurate for sure."

Tomiko shrugged with a smile. "Who knows. Oh right, why did you ask about my last name?"

"You need a legal full name. I suggest 'Sawada'." Alaude stated, glancing at the board once more before writing down another name.

"Eh? No. 'Sawada' would be too obvious and no fun." Tomiko protested.

Daemon counted the names on his list. "Nufufu… then how about 'Asari'?"

"That's not any better. That's the same as waving my relationship with Vongola around like a flag. Choose something else."

"Nah, let's just stick with 'Asari'. They need to start from somewhere." Lampo checked over his list and grinned with satisfaction.

Knuckle nodded. "I extremely agree. Spare them some mercy and bless them with a single hint."

"Asari Tomiko it is then." Giotto walked into the room and took Tomiko from Cozart.

"Giotto, are you betting as well?" Cozart asked.

"No. I will remain bystander and judge of this match. Are you all done?" Giotto received nods from everyone. All of the pens were put down.

"Wait." Tomiko cut in, glancing over her list. "The first name on all of your lists does not count. With a name like 'Asari' it is obvious who will win, especially since I am obviously going to live in Namimori for some period of time. In fact, am pretty sure you all wrote the same name on top."

Cozart walked around the room, glancing at the guardian's lists. His smile widened as he saw each of them. "Oh my. You are correct, Tomiko. They all wrote the same name. Ah, except for Lampo."

Lampo blinked. "Who's name?"

"Hibari Kyoya."

* * *

**Glassed Loner:** Your question weeks ago was so close. Tsuna calls Tomiko 'Toku-nee' because of the reason i stated (it being a verbal nickname of sorts). however, Tomiko's name itself and the use of 'Toku(-hime)' was a hint to her parentage. I tensed when i first saw your question, but thankfully the wording allowed me to conceal it~


	55. KA -4- FUUTA DE LA STELLA

Kyoya found himself outside of a complex illusory barrier. His temper was reaching sky high. Damn pineapple. Kyoya ran forward, prepared to attack the barrier when a figure caught the corner of his eye.

"Kyoya-nii." Fuuta stepped out of the shadows.

Kyoya momentarily chose to set aside his anger to see what the child wanted to say. After years of living together, Kyoya knew that Fuuta would not bother him when he is about to bite someone unless there was something important he had to say.

Fuuta said nothing else, instead pushing his ranking book in front of Kyoya. The book was opened and there were a list of entries on a single page.

Kyoya read the first entry and froze. He took the book from Fuuta.

_The strongest in Namimori … #1: Asari Tomiko_

_The person who knows the most about Asari Tomiko… #1: Hibari Kyoya_

_Asari Tomiko's rank in the knowledge of Vongola… #4_

_The people who share the most blood with Asari Tomiko… #1 Giotto di Vongola_

_Asari Tomiko's rank in the knowledge of the 'original timeline'… #1_

_Asari Tomiko's rank in the knowledge of Sawada Tsunayoshi… #1_

_The person who is 'Sawada Tsunayoshi'… #1: Asari Tomiko_

_The person who can't refuse a request… #1: Asari Tomiko_

_The person who will not use Ranking Fuuta… #1: Asari Tomiko_

(Author's Note:  
I am assuming that dead people do not show up on Fuuta's ranking unless it is something that can't be changed. Strength and knowledge can change depending on the era and world but blood ties would stay the same. Thus Hibari Kyoya is the person who knows the most about Tomiko who is still alive.)

Kyoya looked up at Fuuta.

"I… was bored… so I decided to rank the strongest in Namimori like last time. And then…"

Kyoya nodded, understanding Fuuta's consequent train of thought.

"Um… Kyoya-nii, may I meet this Asari Tomiko?"

"Hibari Tomiko. She goes by the name Hibari Tomiko."

Fuuta blinked but quickly understood. There had to be a reason why Kyoya ranked first in knowing about Tomiko. If she was a Hibari, that meant Kyoya found her before everyone else.

"May I meet Hibari Tomiko?"

Kyoya pulled out his phone and dialed a number. After a few seconds, he handed the phone to Fuuta.

"Um, Hello?" Fuuta said, nervously.

"Hello Fuuta. I am Hibari Tomiko."

Tears began to weld in Fuuta's eyes at the familiar tone. "Ah, um… I…" Fuuta was unsure what he should say.

"Fuuta, are you well?" the gentle voice asked him.

Fuuta nodded in spite of thinking that she can't see him. "Yeah. I am fine. I have been staying with Mukuro-nii for the past few days. He was very nice to me. Ken-nii and Chikusa-nii as well."

"That's good. You are not hurt right?"

"Not a scratch. Mukuro-nii gave serious orders that the other people were not to come within 10 feet of me… I was a little bored but other than that I was enjoying my time." Fuuta knew that Tomiko spotted the lie.

"...I see. Well, it's fine. As long as you are not hurt in any way." She paused. "Sorry Fuuta, can you give the phone back to Kyoya? It seems like Mukuro is going too far…"

Fuuta quickly handed the phone back to Kyoya.

"The herbivore won't be able to hold on much longer."

"Yeah… Can Mukuro still possess?"

"I would assume that the pineapple herbivore can still possess people when they are scratched with that trident of his."

"Yeah. Mukuro-nii confirmed it when I asked him." Fuuta cut in.

"Did you hear that?" Kyoya asked Tomiko.

"Yes. You will need to step in soon. Please destroy the barrier. Chrome wants to see how strong it is."

Kyoya handed the phone back to Fuuta. "Go stand against that wall." Fuuta quickly ran to the wall.

Kyoya took a deep breath and at once, he slashed at the barrier with full force. There was a loud crash sound but the barrier remained in place.

Kyoya sighed. He closed his eyes and reminisced about all the annoying things that happened in the past few years. Then he thought back to the incident a few hours ago, where he found the Hibari resident filled with pineapple illusions with the word "EXTREME" written in pineapple on the wall of his gate. His anger spiked. He had a pineapple to bite to death. Suddenly he heard a scream from the phone. He quickly turned.

"Tomiko-nee?" Fuuta asked. There was a long pause. "… the back of the school is full of pineapples shaped in the message of "Not a pineapple gang"? Students are traumatized? A lot of paperwork?" He repeated slowly. Fuuta suddenly felt a deadening aura. He concentrated the phone, turning slightly to the wall. He definitely did not want to see Kyoya-nii's face right now.

There was a loud crash followed by a loud crack. The barrier shattered like glass. Fuuta instantly moved to the exit.

The building will not last much longer.

"Fuuta, come to Namichu. Let's talk in there." Tomiko said calmly. Fuuta was amazed at how calm she could be in the midst of an angry skylark, a vandalizing pineapple, lot's of potential mental damage and piles of paperwork. Then Fuuta remembered that the Vongola as a whole was probably more than 10 times worse and the past Tsuna-nii still managed to stay sane.

* * *

"Thank you Chrome." Tomiko watched as Kyoya began to destroy whatever he could.

Chrome shook her head. "Screaming… is much easier than doing the paper work for that…" She trailed off hearing the screams outside as more students started to develop pineapple phobia.

Tomiko sighed. "I would ask Shoichi to block the area, but I don't think he will be able to function for a while." She watched Shoichi continued to moan about his cameras and Kyoya's rampage. "I was planning to tell Kyoya later, but…"

"No… Mukuro-sama was going too far…" Chrome reassured Tomiko. "If Mukuro-sama possessed Sawada, it would cause you a lot of trouble."

"Yeah…" Mukuro might end up seeing the first generation in Tsuna's childhood. Or recognize some of the things Tomiko told Tsuna. Or maybe even recognize Tomiko's short spar with Kyoya. Tomiko had no method to filter Tsuna's memories until they were safe for Mukuro to watch. "Well…" Tomiko rose from the couch. "I'm going to meet Fuuta at the gate… Please tell Shoichi to fix that mess later." She gestured the screens, which were disconnecting one by one due to encountering a violent beast.

Chrome glanced at Shoichi once, easily determining that his brain won't reconnect anytime soon. "Hai, Tomiko-sama."

…

"Who won this time?" Tomiko muttered to Giobird as she walked down the hall.

"I believe it was Alaude."

Tomiko blinked. "Wow. Two in a row. Fon and Fuuta…" She paused as a smirking Alaubird flew into view and onto her shoulder. He gloated at the other birds as they perched on Tomiko's outstretched arm.

"And so I lead."

"You must have cheated." Lambird complained. "There is no way you can get 2 in a row otherwise."

"Hn. Information is key. Those whom have access to it and those whom can easily obtain it. The Ranking child is the former and the arcobaleno is the later."

"You didn't win Shiro-chan's." Tomiko kindly reminded him.

Alaubird glared at her as Gibird and Daebird snickered.

"Ah um…" Fuuta shyly peered at Tomiko from around the wall. The canaries were the only hint he had that she was the correct person.

Tomiko looked up and smiled. "Fuuta." She walked over to him as all of the birds on her arm left for the window still. With renewed courage, now that he knew he had the right person, Fuuta ran up to her and gave her a huge hug.

Hugging him back, Tomiko hummed. "Fuuta, shall we go to the roof?"

* * *

Tomiko and the other birds listened as Fuuta cheerfully recounted his life so far and the events of Kokuyo through the 'pineapple gang's' perspective. Giobird was sitting on Tomiko's shoulder as always, with the other birds spread out on the floor.

"So Tomiko-nee was the one who wrote 'Hime' on this arm badge?"

Tomiko nodded. "Yeah. I was on the roof with Chrome and Takeshi. Chrome casted the illusion of invisibility around me before you came. There are also many barriers Shoichi set on the roof that also helped hide me."

"To hide from Reborn~" Fuuta suddenly fell silent. "…Tomiko-nee…"

"Yes?"

"C-can I… live with you?"

Tomiko's first instinct was to say yes, but Giobird stopped her. "I apologize, Ranking Prince, if you move out of the Sawada Residence, the Sun arcobaleno would get suspicious."

Fuuta's face fell.

Tomiko flailed. "A-ah but once Reborn finds out you can come live with me. I'll prepare a room for you and everything." She smiled. "I also want to live with you again, Fuuta."

Fuuta nodded. "Ok… how long do you want to keep it from Reborn?"

"…I don't know. I'm going to hide it as long as I can… at least until after the varia… future… shimon…" She trailed off, glancing down the fence as her hyper intuition rang. "I'm sorry, Fuuta, it will take a while."

"It's fine. I don't care if I need to wait-"

Fuuta looked up in surprise as Kyoya slammed the roof of the door opened. Tomiko barely looked in his direction. "I am so glad we bought Kokuyo."

Kyoya shook his head in irritation. "Hn."

"Is Mukuro still conscious?" Tomiko sighed as Kyoya joined her and Fuuta by the fence. Hibird flew to the railing on the fence.

"The pineapple herbivore won't wake up in a day."

Fuuta mirrored Tomiko's sigh. "Kyoya-nii…"

"If someone didn't hold me back, the pineapple might still be awake."

"Says the one who didn't do the paperwork he was supposed to on time."

"The pineapple was making too much of a mess."

Tomiko turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you saying that Mukuro distracted you from following your work?"

A tonfa was instantly revealed, accompanied by a glare. "The pineapple herbivore did not distract me."

"You were the one who ran back to the Hibari Residence suddenly during the middle of a meeting."

"Your intuition was the cause."

"All I said was 'Mukuro'. You were the one who somehow figured out where he was on your own. Don't tell me you have some type of Mukuro 6th sen-"

"Finish that sentence and I will bite you to death." Kyoya raised both tonfas.

"Um… Kyoya-nii… why does Hibird look so… weird?" Fuuta cut in.

Both Tomiko and Kyoya focused on the bird on the rail at once. Hibird had the strangest gaze directed at the canary on the floor. Specifically, the pink canary. Hibird puffed his chest.

Tomiko blinked rapidly a few times. "…Uh… Kyoya… Please tell me my intuition is wrong…"

"…" Kyoya did not speak, staring at Hibird intently. "… Do you believe your intuition is wrong?"

"Uh well… let me rephrase. Spring just ended… so isn't the canary's mating season… over?"

"…Hn." Technically.

"So… my intuition must be wrong, right…?"

"…" Kyoya opened his mouth but Hibird beat him to it. He dove at Gibird.

Every bird around Gibird had instantly flew away from the… hormonal canary. Gibird swore loudly before hightailing it out of the roof, Hibird shortly at his tail.

"…Did… What… I…" Giobird muttered incomprehensibility on Tomiko's shoulder. The other birds were still in the air, trying to figure out what happened.

Kyoya was absolutely taken aback.

"I think that ranks as one of the strangest things I've ever seen…" Fuuta stared at the pink and yellow dots chasing each other in a distance.

"That actually kind of reminds me of Hayato and his fangirls."

Kyoya nodded in agreement. "A variant. The herbivore would be the female in this case."

There was a moment of silence.

Lambird was the first to collapse. "AHAHAHAHA G IS… G IS…" He was laughing so hard that he could not even finish the sentence.

Daebird was so entertained at the sight that he didn't even laugh using his 'nufufu's, opting to laugh the normal way. Even Alaubird didn't hold in his laughter, albeit he was still the most tamed about it, second to Kyoya.

"And G was the one who kept insisting that he wasn't pink…" Giobird had almost fallen off of Tomiko's shoulder.

Tomiko herself was holding the rail to keep herself up. "I… I have no idea what to think. Kyoya, did Hibird actually fall in love with Gibird at first sight?"

Kyoya had his hand over his mouth, unable to respond verbally in fear of losing his control. He nodded instead.

"Haha Gibird must have been very attractive." Asabird laughed.

"Was it love?" Lambird paused. "Or lust."

Exbird gaped, scandalized. "I must extremely pray." He instantly clasped his wings together and gave a long deep prayer. What and who he was exactly praying for, no one really knew.

"Nufufu… this will be very entertaining. I wonder how long G will be able to hold against Hibird's advances."

"Haha, are you going to bet again?" Shibird flew onto Tomiko's shoulder. "If you do, I will participate as well this time."

"Of course we will bet on this… G is such a dear friend to us, after all." Giobird smiled.

"Fuuta, shall we be the judges in this competition?" Tomiko patted Fuuta on the head. "It seems that the entire first generation and Kyoya are going to participate this time."

The book was turned to an empty page in an instant. Pen in hand, Fuuta looked up, prepared. The birds and Kyoya instantly began throwing their predictions at him.

…

"So this is how you run away from all of your suitors?" Tomiko's eyes did not leave the betting group beside the fence. G joined her beside the wall. He had abandoned his bird form to escape from Hibird.

"Shut it, Tomiko." G ran his fingers through his hair. "That bird was crazy."

Tomiko hummed. "It's around mating season."

"The end of it." G snapped. "I am not going to get intimate with a bird."

"They certainly think otherwise." Tomiko gestured the betting group slightly.

G roared, attempting to step forward but found himself unable to. Glancing down slightly, he instantly directed a killer glare at Tomiko.

She smiled at him, as though she had never froze his feet into place in the first place. "I'll keep you company until they are done."

He growled at her. "This is insane. I will never ever swing that way with another human, much less a bird."

"Hibird evidently thinks you are female."

"I AM NOT PINK."

Tomiko smiled. "I never said you were pink, G. Calm down. Just prove that you are male to Hibird." She raised a hand over her face to hide her expression, having left her mask in her pocket ever since she got to the roof with Fuuta.

G narrowed his eyes. "So you anticipate my failure as well."

"I'll assist you, G. I am standing neutral in the bet after all." She patted G on the back. "Go search up how canaries assert their dominance later… I believe that will help you a lot. Though… I honestly do not think that will change much. Hibird's owner happens to be Kyoya after all."

G swore. "The damn little cloud."

"Well you do have a chance. Hibird has only been acquainted with Kyoya recently after all. A few hours ago, to be exact. But… keep in mind that it is Kyoya's bird you are going against." She nodded towards the group. "In fact, that is one of the reasons why that bet will be so interesting in the first place."

"I swear, you act too much like Giotto sometimes."

Tomiko smiled. "You'll be fine. Besides, even if you do happen to... lose, I doubt you would be able to produce evidence that you did."

G narrowed his eyes. "Let me get this straight. I am male. I am dead. I am made of storm flames. I cannot procreate."

"I said doubt, G. Doubt. However, you never know. I have been surrounded by the most bizarre of the bizarre all my life after all."

"I will never fall prey to another male bird."

"I wish you luck."

* * *

**KOKUYO ARC COMPLETE**


	56. SA -2- Truth

"Oh yeah, Tomiko-chan." Enma looked up from his cake.

"Yes?" Tomiko handed him a cup of tea.

"Ah, thank you. Uh… You don't have access to information on Vongola and CEDEF's missions, right?"

Tomiko nodded. "I am hiding from the Vongola in general. Sawada Iemitsu is aware of my existence as his son's friend, but he doesn't know anything else… Well I guess I can ask Basil or Lal Mirch for some information if necessary… Why?"

Enma bit his lip. "Um… it's about… that incident."

Tomiko paused. The Flood of Blood and the killing of the Shimon heir. She nodded slowly.

"It… it happened again, but earlier. A little over a year earlier."

Tomiko's eyes widened. "Eh?"

"I don't know if it happened to CEDEF as well… but…" Enma trailed off, trying to find the correct words. "How do I say this… it's like Daemon Spade… combined the two events…"

"… So the room was… red?"

Enma looked away with a grimace, giving a slight nod.

Tomiko held her hand on her chin, in a thinking gesture. "…why…" She muttered.

Enma turned to her in surprise, a visible question mark forming above his head.

She bit her lip. "I'll ask Basil to look into it later… but I don't think it's the work of Daemon. CEDEF should not be involved in any way." Tomiko looked at Enma. "I'm sorry, Enma-kun, but… could you return to… the scene of crime later? To check for any other differences… or is the house already…"

Enma shook his head. "We sealed the house after removing… them… I'll go examine the scene of crime when I return to the island." No matter how much Enma wanted to avoid his former house, he still completely trusted Tomiko's intuition and orders. He will investigate this further.

…

Tomiko watched Enma and Mami leave the hospital from the window.

"So those two are my descendants?" Shibird flew onto the table from outside. "They are so cute."

"Indeed." Tomiko poked him. "But coming from a canary?"

Shibird shrugged. "What was that about Spade?"

"…" Tomiko fell silent.

Shibird returned to being Cozart in a burst of earth flames. "Tomiko, tell me."

Tomiko hesitated. "…Daemon… he wanted to… test… the tenth generation Vongola, so he… was responsible for Enma-kun's parent's death and an incident that caused a rift between the Shimon and Vongola." She quickly grabbed Cozart's arm right after she said that and opened her mouth.

Cozart raised his hand to silence her. He smiled. "It's alright, Tomiko. Even if I get revenge on this Daemon, it's pointless." He paused. "But you do not suspect that that Daemon is responsible for the event this time?"

Tomiko shook his head. "There is no reason for Daemon to do it this time."

"And you have a suspect in mind."

"…" Tomiko shrugged slightly. "I do… but I hope that I am wrong, or else something very bad will happen eventually…" She sighed. "Keep it from papa."

Cozart chuckled, patting her head. "Alright. I trust that you know what you are doing."

Tomiko smiled. "Thank you, Cozart. By the way, why are you here? On break again?"

He laughed. "Partially. I was studying Enma. He really isn't like me, so different from you and Giotto."

"I am not completely like Giotto." Tomiko groaned.

"You are alike enough to be actual father and daughter." Cozart countered, amused. "Well, I have never met Sawada Iemitsu before but I can say that you share more traits with Giotto than with Sawada Nana."

"It's because I was with Giotto for 400 more years than I was with kaa-san."

Cozart shook his head. "It's more than that, but I digress. The second reason why I am here is to tell you that everyone will gather here in an hour. Talbot has arrived yesterday. Irie set him up in one of the rooms of the Asari Mansion."

"An hour huh…" Tomiko opened her fridge. "I think I will need to bake another cake."

Cozart smiled. "I'll stay with you. Tell me how accurate my 'Enma' is." A swirl of earth flames surrounded Cozart as he turned into Enma. "Let me help you out, Tomiko-chan."

Tomiko chuckled. "Thank you, 'Enma-kun'."

* * *

"Tomiko-chan." Shoichi slid the door open, Giotto in his 3yl fluffy Tsuna form and Spanner behind him. "Talbot brought the Vongola gear and-" He froze.

'Enma' blinked. "EH? T-Tsuna-kun? I-I thought…" He rubbed his eyes twice. "W-why do you look older? What's going on?"

Shoichi was stunned speechless. "K-kozato…san? W-what are you doing here?"

"I… the… the s-shimon ring led me here…" 'Enma' rubbed his Shimon ring. "I-irie-san… what is going on?"

"…" Shoichi opened his mouth, prepared to spew a complicated lie.

Tomiko chuckled. "Shoichi, what do you think?"

"T-think?" Shoichi blinked.

"What do you think of Cozart's 'Enma'?"

Shoichi threw a tantrum. "TOMIKO-CHAN, THAT WAS SO MEAN. I THOUGHT I MESSED UP AGAIN."

'Enma' laughed as he returned to his original form. "So I guess I can pass as my descendant."

Tomiko smiled. "Of course. Now Shoichi, calm down and come into the room before you actually mess up."  
…

"…So you are going to somehow get Tsuna and the others onto an island and fight them?" Tomiko rubbed her temple. "Where did you find an island?"

"It was one of Vongola Terzo's. He happened to have secretly purchased one very close from here, within range too." 3yl fluffy Sawada explained, eating another whole cake. "We 'borrowed' it from him."

"How many does he have…" Tomiko mumbled as she picked up the paperwork Shoichi had nervously placed in front of her. "So what are these Gola Mosca for?"

"Well… the island was completely empty…" Shoichi trailed off.

Tomiko face palmed. "You made an army of mosca to build a mansion."

"Mm." Spanner walked over and handed her some blueprints. "They are even programmed to fly." He pointed at an area. "That is for painting, that is for carving…" He began a lengthy explanation of all of the functions of the Gola Mosca.

"Spanner, I have a question." Tomiko paused. "While it's a very versatile and functional robot, despite it's size, may I ask why you need 40 of them?"

"Hm." Spanner shrugged. "I've always wanted an army of mosca." He gave her a thumbs up. "Every mosca is unique too. Mosca 1 is-"

Tomiko held her hand up. "Save it for Verde. Actually no, I suspect that he probably pitched in for some of them. Save it for Hayato instead. What I am concerned about right now is where all of the mosca are. Why must they be so large?"

"So you can control them from inside. Like Gund-"

"Spanner." Tomiko sighed. "Where are all of them right now?"

"Island. Too big for your mansion."

Tomiko gave a sigh of relief. "Where is the island anyways? Do you have a map?"

Shoichi nodded and took a map out. "The island is here."

"Eh? That close? It's just around the dock." Tomiko rotated the map. "There's an island there?"

"It looks more like an island if you look at it from that direction." Shoichi pointed. "Otherwise, it looks like it's just part of the main land. I'm going to direct the boat around here." He drew a wide circular path across the ocean. "Then it would seem like it's further than it really is."

"You're turning a 10 minute trip into a 2 hour one." Tomiko deadpanned.

Shoichi nodded nervously. "Ahaha… yeah… uh, Tomiko-chan… please save me when they find out."

Tomiko rubbed her temple with a deep sigh. "While chained to a bed?"

"Ah… I'm going to make them take the 2 hour trip when coming back as well so…"

"Shoichi. Delaying your death would only make it worse." She sighed. "I'll try to keep you alive and sane."

"Thank you."

"But if it's that close, they still would be able to easily realize while they are on the island."

"Don't worry." Shoichi beamed. "We are going to set flame barriers, arcobaleno radiation, signal blockers and we also blocked all of the escape routes. There are even excess amount of rocks and trees everywhere to obstruct their view. They won't have a clue where they are."

"Are you trying to strand them on an island?" Tomiko shook her head in exasperation. "This is ridiculous."

"Now now, Tomiko, those guys worked hard on this project you know." Cozart patted her shoulder. "Including Verde, Lizzie, Fran and Chrome. See look, even your father had to abandon his cakes to prepare the island."

The said father looked up from his cake, a pile of empty dishes beside him.

"Giotto, are you planning to finish them all?" Tomiko glanced at her near empty cake fridge. That was a few days of hard work gone in 10 minutes.

"I exhausted most of my flame energy."

"You don't need to eat cake to replenish your energy. What's wrong with a regular meal for a change?" Tomiko sighed. They have had this conversation multiple times already.

Giotto went back to his cake.

"So, when are you going to start?" Tomiko glanced at the pile of paperwork about the mosca and placed it on top of her other paperwork.

"Tomorrow." Shoichi paused. "Well technically 2 days later…"

She nodded. "Is there anything I need to do?"

Everyone in the room turned to Giotto, who wiped his mouth with a napkin and moved to Tomiko's bed side. He pulled out a vial.

* * *

"Yeah. Tell them that I saw some suspicious people near the hospital… Thanks Kyoko." Shoichi hung up and pocketed his phone. He sighed at Tomiko's sleeping face before noticing the white chrysanthemums at her bedside. Shoichi blinked. "Fran, why did you choose those flowers? It's like saying Tomiko-chan died."

"Tch. How shallow." Fran placed his hat on top of the back of a tall backed chair. "White chrysanthemums also mean 'truth'." He picked up Lizzie while holding a long stick between his arms and rubbed his hell ring. In a blink of an eye, he became Chrome. "A hint for Hibari-senpai, though he would never notice." 'Chrome' tapped her 'spear' on the ground, holding Lizzie in his other arm. An illusion of Fran replaced the chair. "Hmm… too short." Setting Lizzie down on the Fran chair, which looked very bizarre in Shoichi's point of view (Lizzie was essentially floating in the middle of Fran's knees), 'Chrome' left the room to find something to raise the chair. Since Fran was planning to trick Mukuro with his illusions, he needed a solid base to strengthen them and reduce the chances of them from being exposed.

Shamal casually strolled into the room seconds after. "So where's the sleeping beauty?" He dodged a pillow. "The other sleeping beauty. You still need another few years." A set of pillows flew at Shamal. "There there, you wouldn't want to wake your precious sleeping princess, would you?" The pillows stopped.

Lizzie growled.

"D-dr. Shamal. Please don't provoke Lizzie-chan…"

Shamal gave Shoichi a look of distaste. "That wasn't provoking, brat. That was the art of flirting." He turned as 'Chrome' re-entered the room. "Let me demonstrate."

"A-ah wait…" Shoichi started but was stopped by an amused look from 'Chrome'.

"Chrome-chan~ fancy seeing you today." Shamal snaked an arm around 'Chrome's' shoulder. 'Chrome' gave him a sheepish smile.

"A-ano… Shamal-san… y-your arm…" 'Chrome' attempted to nudge the arm away from his shoulder.

"Aww, don't be shy, sweetie. If you have time later, let's go hang out."

"H-hang out…?"

"Of course, let's go watch a movie, have dinner and chat."

"I-I need to babysit Lizzie…" 'Chrome' slowly inched towards the Fran chair, somehow dragging Shamal with him.

"We can take Lizzie-chan as well." Shamal persisted.

"No… I need to watch Tomiko-sama…"

"Aww then at least let me treat you to a meal. Is there anything you would like to eat?"

'Chrome' glanced at him with large amethyst eyes. "Ano… is it alright if I get some Taiyaki…? For Lizzie as well…"

"Of course~ anything for my sweetie." Shamal bent over with plucked lips.

"Isn't that great, Lizzie? Free Taiyaki." Fran heartlessly dispelled his illusion and gave Shamal a deadpan stare. He ducked out of the stupefied Shamal's arms and jabbed him with his stick to rub salt on the wound. Fran then merrily walked around the frozen doctor and picked Lizzie up. "Chocolate."

"…red bean…" was Lizzie's request.

"One chocolate, one red bean." Fran gave Shamal a very mocking smirk, gesturing at Shoichi. "Witness-san will make sure you fulfill your promise. You wouldn't want Miko-hime after you, right?" Picking up one of Lizzie's pillows, Fran slid it under the Fran chair, raising it a few centimeters. He tapped the stick on the ground and once again became 'Chrome'.

Shoichi sighed. "Dr. Shamal… you know, if that actually was Dokuro-san, then I think it would have went much worse." He tried to console. Gibird and Asabird flew into the room from outside, as a signal that Kyoya and Mukuro were on their way. Shoichi nodded as the birds disappeared in a burst of flames. "Dr. Shamal please start."

Shamal gave a huge sigh and walked towards Tomiko's bedside. "Pipsqueak. I will get you back."

Fran did not even bother to acknowledge the threat.

* * *

**Glassed Loner:** I don't quite understand your question. if you are asking if the Sawada Tsunayoshi of this time travels to the original timeline to fix things, then it's a no. if it's about Tsuna traveling 400 years back to 'fix' the issue of Tomiko's birth, it is also a no... there is some time travel involved later, but Tsuna isn't included in any of it other than during the future arc. and yes, if i interpreted your question correctly, i do have an ultimate plot, which i have hinted a scarce few times... there is an ultimate 'big bad' which is an OC. it will be the final OC revealed... that won't occur for quite some time though.


	57. DA V -1- I-PIN

"Talbot. It's really nice to see you again…" Tomiko walked into the room and sat on a chair. Alaude followed her in and leaned against the wall.

"Ho ho, indeed. I see that you are still going strong." Talbot nodded at Alaude as well, who nodded back in turn. Talbot reached forward with an open palm. Tomiko placed the locket in his hand. "Where's Giotto?"

"Doing paper work. Oh, it's empty inside. I gave the ring to Enma-kun." She explained. "Shoichi, Verde and Spanner added some more barriers to the locket."

"I can see. So the inventor trio are still modifying everything they can get their hands on." Talbot opened the locket and examined the interior. "I'll return this to you tomorrow." He closed the locket. "So, how are you?"

Tomiko smiled. "I am fine. I really thank you and Sepira-san."

"There is no need to thank me. This is one of the most interesting projects I've ever done." He laughed. "Made being reborn worth it."

"Ah…" Tomiko gave a slightly guilty smiled.

"Your flames are still strong, it seems." Talbot reached out again. Tomiko placed her wrist in his hold, allowing him to check her pulse and flames. "Yes. Still strong."

"It won't happen that quickly. Sepira-san said so."

Talbot shrugged. "It does not hurt to double check." He let go of her wrist. "So, how is the princess?"

"She is well." Tomiko held her hands over her heart and closed her eyes. "They won't be affected by the lifespan curse this time."

"Hum. You used the Tri-ni-sette to solve one problem but ended solving everything else."

Tomiko laughed. "There's no way I can fix everything. It's like you said, everything in this world is a give and take. I just happened to have more to give."

"'More to give'. Like almost prematurely giving away your life. Multiple times."

Tomiko froze. "…Ahaha… Shoichi told you?"

Talbot placed a hand on his chin, rubbing it. "To be more specific, every single person who stopped by so far told me." He shook his head. "Imagine how they would react when they find out about that. Especially that former tutor of yours."

"…" Tomiko flinched. "Well… they- Reborn…" She bit her lip. "It will be fine. He will never know."

"Such optimistic thinking."

* * *

Hayato slid the door of the DC office open and stared.

"Gokudera-shi? What's wrong-" Lambo walked over and peered inside as well. He, Hayato, Takeshi, Ryohei, Mukuro and Enma received a message from Shoichi earlier for a meeting. While they could guess that part of the meeting was about the first generation Vongola, none of them expected to see Vongola Primo, sitting on the couch frowning over paperwork.

"Ah, please come in." Shoichi called from his desk. "Tomiko-chan will be here soon. She needed to talk to Talbot earlier."

"EXTREME" Ryohei strolled into the room and took a seat on the couch across from primo.

"Kufufu… how interesting." Mukuro followed the suit, taking a seat on the other end of Ryohei's couch.

"Oi you guys need to show some manners." Hayato yelled.

"Maa maa, don't worry about it."

"What do you mean 'don't worry about it'." Hayato mockingly imitated Takeshi. "That is Vongola Primo. THE Vongola Primo."

"But we've seen Primo so many times in the past…" Lambo peered at Hayato's excessive reaction in confusion.

Hayato slapped him up the head. "You should still show respect, stupid cow."

"W-why is he here in the first place…?" Enma peered at Giotto nervously. "And why is he doing paperwork?"

"Because he was being an idiot." Gibird deadpanned from Tomiko's desk. Everyone but Shoichi and Giotto turned to the bird in surprise.

"T-the pink bird talks!" Enma hid himself behind Takeshi.

"I AM NOT PINK."

"G, calm down." Giotto sighed. "You're scaring Cozart's descendant."

Shibird laughed from beside Gibird. "It's fine, Giotto, he's cute when he's scared."

"Kufufufufu…" Mukuro chuckled. "So you first generation have made yourselves mascots."

"You are extremely correct, little mist." Exbird nodded.

"Oya oya, it seems that you've colour coded yourselves based on hair colour." Mukuro focused on Giotto. "Which makes you the spiky yellow canary stuck on Tomiko-chan."

"Correct." Giotto took no offense to that.

"OI PINEAPPLE, WHY ARE YOU INTERROGATING THEM!?" Hayato roared.

Mukuro completely ignored him, instead leaning back on the couch. "Kufufufufu… while it does explain a lot of things, it fails to address the most important question. How and why are you here?"

Hayato closed his mouth as they turned to Giotto for an answer.

There was a long moment of silence.

"…Irie." Hayato turned to Shoichi.

"Ah um… they… i-it's because they… can…?" Shoichi stuttered before quickly averting their gaze in favour of the paperwork in front of him. He wasn't about to give them more information than Tomiko wanted to give them.

"Haha, yeah. It's because we can." Asabird echoed, amused by the response.

"Nufufufu… indeed. Because we can." At this point, Shoichi was 100% certain that they were mocking him.

"… You guys should stop bullying Shoichi." Tomiko slid the door open, with Alaubird on her shoulder. "Giotto, still not done?"

Giotto groaned in response.

Tomiko chuckled as she walked to her own desk. "You've underestimated paperwork." She picked up a stack and moved beside Giotto on the couch.

"Kufufufu… Tomiko-chan, is it alright if we ask you some questions?"

"You are as free to ask as I am as free to answer."

"Haha, then let me start." Takeshi smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm perfectly fine. That coma was due to some type of drug that this person told me to take." Tomiko gestured Giotto with her pen. "I felt like I simply woke up from a long nap."

"Toku-hime, why are the first generation Vongola with you?" Hayato repeated Mukuro's earlier answer.

Tomiko looked up. "Oh, that's where that came from." She pondered the question for a second. "Because they can."

Hayato openly gaped.

Chuckling slightly, Tomiko flipped the page of her paperwork. "Reword the question, Hayato."

Hayato furrowed his eyebrows. "… Then… what is your relationship with the first generation?"

Tomiko once again used her pen to gesture Giotto, eyes still on her paperwork. "Father."

Their double take was very entertaining to watch.

Smirking, Tomiko leaned back on her couch. "Did you get that, Daemon?"

"Nufufu… but of course." Daebird glanced at his camera screen again. "I am a perfectionist."

"F-father…?" Enma stuttered. "B-but… how…?"

"I'm sorry, Enma-kun, I won't provide anything more than a biological explanation for you." Tomiko paused. "Would you like one?"

Blushing, Enma shook his head.

"Wait, wait, wait." Hayato raised both hands. "If you are Vongola Primo's… daughter, then why aren't you claiming-"

"Hayato." Tomiko cut him off. "What is your take on Giotto being my father?"

"Eh? Well…" Hayato scratched his face. "It's…" He rubbed his head. "…I have no idea."

"It's an extremely extreme idea." Ryohei nodded to himself.

"Exactly. It's an idea. A fantastic idea, one that is very hard to prove or explain, if not impossible." Tomiko sighed. "Does that answer your question, Hayato?"

"…Yes."

There was a moment of silence.

"…Um… Miko-nee, I think I should return this to you." Lambo pulled the black Vongola box out of his hair. "When did you give it to me anyways?"

"Thank you." Tomiko took the box from Lambo. "I place it in your hair when you went to visit me at the Hibari residence. I figured it would be useful against whatever this person was planning." She once again gestured Giotto. "Or rather didn't plan."

"Ah I should return this to you as well." Enma pulled the sky ring Tomiko gave him out. "…You probably won't answer any questions about this right?"

"…Yeah. I'm sorry, Enma-kun." Tomiko took the ring.

"Kufufu… Tomiko-chan, why are the first generation in the form of the skylark's bird?"

"Well… I guess it's more compact this way, takes up less space… more convenient… and uses less flame." Tomiko glanced at Alaubird. "Any other reasons you can think of?"

Alaubird shrugged. "Easier to spy."

"Nufufu… only you would think of such a perverted answer."

"Only you would spy for perverted reasons." Alaubird countered smoothly.

Daebird would have retorted to that statement but was interrupted by Tomiko's cell phone ringing. Tomiko stared at the call display in surprise. "Kyoya? What's wrong?" Tomiko could count the number of times Kyoya has ever called her on one hand. "…WHAT?!"

…

Kyoya glared at the device in irritation. "Don't yell."

"Sorry. Are you sure it is a commander?"

"The herbivore announced to the whole world he was." Kyoya glared even harder. "And he flaunted that herbivorous badge of his." Plus there was no way he would forget the face of someone Tomiko explicitly told him to remember.

The Jinshintou Gumi were getting more and more rowdy by the day. In fact, they were the bulk of Tomiko's paperwork, ranging from complaints from the city and citizens to actual letters 'requesting' Namimori territory. Not wanting to start a turf war of any sort, Tomiko forced Kyoya to memorize the face of every person commander or above with strict orders not to engage in any combat with any of them.

Kyoya had been merrily patrolling near the outskirts of Namimori when the herbivore decided it was a brilliant idea to ambush him with herbivores. Normally, Kyoya would have bitten them all to death 5 seconds flat however that was not an option. So he resorted to the next best thing.

"The herbivore attacked first."

"No. Do you think that the yakuza care about something like self-defense?! That is not a good reason to bite them to death."

Kyoya deflected another bullet. "Hn." I don't care.

"Retreat."

"…" Kyoya was 2 seconds from destroying the device. "Are you suggesting that I engaging in herbivorous behaviour?"

"Yes." Tomiko did not even try to mask her words. "Leave immediately."

"Leaving does not solve the problem."

"If you defeat them here, the problem will grow. Kyoya. Take 2 steps to your left."

Taking 2 steps to his left, he continued to argue with Tomiko. "If I were to 'retreat', the herbivores would grow more aggressive." Kyoya narrowed his eyes at the large bullet that whizzed passed him. "Sniper."

…

"Ah. 3 total." Tomiko drew on the map Shoichi laid out in front of her. She had entered Hyper Dying Will mode, curious to how big the ambush against Kyoya was. "That commander is going all out against you." She closed her eyes. "1 step backwards and then duck."

"Hn." Kyoya's flame intensified.

"Do not bite them." Tomiko sighed. "Hayato, would-" She slammed a hand over her mouth. Old habits.

Hayato grabbed her shoulder. "Toku-hime. While I serve Juudaime as the storm guardian, I can still help you as a friend. What would you like me to do?"

Tomiko hesitated slightly. "Then… Hayato, would you please head here and stop the snipers?" She pointed to the map. "They are here, here and here. All roofs." She glanced at the rest of the guardians. "…And… Mukuro, can you help Kyoya get out of there. Takeshi, could you go as well? To make sure the three of them don't kill each other."

Hayato had booked it out of the window at Tomiko's request and activated a bone disc. "Oi. Pineapple, baseball freak, would you rather run there?"

"Kufufu… oya oya, so the doggy is being generous today." Mukuro gracefully jumped out the window and joined Hayato on the bone disc.

Takeshi laughed. "Ok. See ya, Miko." He too leapt onto the bone disc. They sped off.

Kyoya growled. That was way too much noisy herbivore. He turned to his attackers, easily calculating that he had enough time to eliminate them all before the noisy herbivores arrived.

"If you bite anyone, I'll send Alaude as well." Tomiko threatened.

"…Hn." Kyoya grumbled. Fine.

* * *

Tomiko found herself in front of the Sawada Residence, Giobird and Exbird on her shoulder the next day.

Giobird cocked his head slightly. "Tomiko, is something wrong? Aren't you going to ring the doorbell?"

"Ah… no… I will… it's just that last time I was here… I had a painful experience." Tomiko explained.

"So it was here." Tomiko winced at Giobird's cold tone. The bird itself glanced around the area then nudged himself even closer to her neck. Exbird closed his eyes to give a prayer.

"…Giotto…" Tomiko sighed.

Sawada Nana abruptly swung the front door open. "Ara, To-chan! So you were here." She pounced on Tomiko in a huge hug. "It's been so long since you've last came home."

Tomiko blushed slightly, hugging her back. "Tadaima, Kaa-san."

"Okaeri~"

…

"Kaa-san… how did you know I was there?" Tomiko managed to somehow pry the woman off of her and enter the house.

Nana smiled. "I wonder myself." She winked at Tomiko. "It must be a mother's intuition."

Tomiko flinched as Nana reached for the mask on her face. "K-kaa-san."

"Don't worry, To-chan, no one else is home today. Bianchi, Lambo, Fuuta and I-pin are shopping and Tsu-kun and Reborn are somewhere playing." She gently took the mask and hair pins off of Tomiko's face. "You are looking more and more like me every time I see you again. Are you sure you aren't my daughter?"

Nana giggled as Tomiko choked on her own saliva. "Kaa-san…"

"If Kyoya-kun hadn't taken you in after Otogi-san left first, I would have long adopted you."

Tomiko smiled, having heard that sentence almost every single time she had come here. "Thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you, To-chan~ You, Shoichi-kun and Kyoya-kun take such good care of Tsu-kun." Nana clapped. "Oh right! I made some wagashi earlier." She dragged Tomiko into the kitchen. "Take some home for Kyoya-kun as well. Exams are soon right? You'll need a lot of energy."

"Thank you, kaa-san. I'm sure Kyoya will enjoy these as well." Tomiko glanced down at the huge box Nana had gave her. "I also want to ask about Tsuna's birthday-"

Nana gasped. "Oh my! I completely forgot about Tsu-kun's birthday. I'm sorry, To-chan. You see, I was busy preparing for Reborn-kun's birthday so…" She trailed off, guilty.

"It's alright, kaa-san. I was just wondering if you'd rather Tsuna's birthday party be held our place instead, so you can focus on Reborn's."

"I'm so sorry, To-chan, it was supposed to be my turn this year as well…" Tomiko and Nana took turns hosting Tsuna's birthday. "But would Kyoya-kun be alright? There will be many more people attending this year."

"… We will be doing it outdoors. That way, Kyoya can… escape whenever he wants." And hopefully not bite anyone to death. Tomiko sighed. Ever since Kyoya was forced to 'retreat', he had been in a foul mood and basically attacked everyone in sight. In the end, Tomiko sent Alaude to him. They were currently dueling their hearts out somewhere in the forest clearing.

"Tomiko." Exbird flew in from the window. Tomiko nodded and wore her mask and pins.

Nana smiled. "Ara, I wonder who is home." She and Tomiko walked out of the kitchen.

"Tadaima, Maman…" Bianchi froze at the sight of Tomiko.

"Okaeri." Nana smiled. "Ara, I should introduce our guest. This is Hibari Tomiko. To-chan, that is Bianchi."

Tomiko bowed at Bianchi, Hyper Intuition telling her all she needed to know. "Pleased to meet you. Shall we talk elsewhere?"

Bianchi nodded. "Maman, Fuuta, Lambo and I-pin are outside." She placed the groceries she was carrying down on the floor. "Is it alright if we talk in my room?"

"Yes. Wherever you like."

…

"Bianchi… thank you for saving me."

Bianchi, in turn, hugged her to death. "Please watch over yourself more. For everyone's sake."

"…I will. I'm sorry." Tomiko paused, piecing everything together. "Hayato?"

She felt Bianchi nod. "Hayato."

The door opened behind the couple and Tomiko felt another set of arms on her waist. "Tomiko-nee! I miss you."

"Fuuta, I miss you too but… right now I feel like a sandwich." Tomiko felt her neck being enclosed by yet another set of arms. "Lambo… you too?"

"Miko-nee, I miss you as well."

"…Lambo, we saw each other just yesterday." Tomiko wiggled. "Ah… Can't you guys go one at a time…?"

Their response was to squeeze her tighter.

Tomiko sighed.

"…Um…" I-pin peered at the strange scene. Maman had told the three of them that there was a guest in Bianchi-nee's room named Hibari Tomiko. At once, Fuuta and Lambo dashed to the room and proceeded to squish the guest.

Bianchi was the first to let go, spotting I-pin. She gently gestured Lambo and Fuuta to do the same. Tomiko collapsed on the floor, out of breath. "Air…"

I-pin walked up to the guest, glancing at Lambo. Lambo responded to the glance by once again pouncing on Tomiko, though this time her stomach. "Miko-nee, play with me." He whined.

Tomiko smiled. "Sorry, Lambo, I will be busy for a while." She fished out some grape candy and gave it to him. Lambo took the candy but kept his hold on her shirt.

"I-pin, hurry up." Lambo complained.

"What do you mean 'hurry up', stupid Lambo." I-pin looked up at Tomiko. "…Um… are you…" She hesitated. The question sounded more and more absurd the more she repeated it in her head.

"I-pin, go ahead and ask." Tomiko gently encouraged.

"…Then… are you… Tsuna-nii?"

"I am." Tomiko only managed to remove her mask half way before I-pin leapt onto her, crying. Rubbing circles on I-pin's back, Tomiko stood up slowly, one hand on each child. Bianchi helped her readjust her mask. "Thank you. I-pin, I have someone you need to meet."

I-pin nodded, still crying.

"I'm going back to the Hibari residence…" Tomiko glanced at the child on her stomach.

Lambo did not let go. "Miko-nee promised to play with me."

"…When did I do that?" Tomiko sighed. "Fuuta, would you like to come as well?"

"Yes, yes!" Fuuta bounced.

"Alright… Bianchi, I'll see you a few days later. I'm going to host Tsuna's birthday this year."

Bianchi waved. "Ask if you need any help."

"… I'll keep that in mind."

"Kaa-san." Tomiko called. Nana poked her head out seconds later and giggled.

"Ara, To-chan, you are very good with kids."

"A-ah no, these kids are just special." Tomiko stammered, face red. "Can I take care of them for a few hours?"

"Of course, To-chan. Ah, don't forget the sweets." Nana hurried into the kitchen and gave Fuuta the huge box of wagashi. "See you later, To-chan."

Tomiko nodded. "Ittekimasu."

"Itterasshai."

* * *

They stopped in front of the Hibari Residence. Exbird happily pressed the doorbell.

Tomiko sighed. "I need to ring the doorbell just to get home…"

"Miko-nee? Are you taking me to see Kyoya-nii?" I-pin turned slightly, curious.

"No. I don't think Kyoya is home right now." He is probably still decking it out with Alaude.

"Then…" I-pin trailed off as the front gate opened.

Fon chuckled at the sight. "It seems like you always have your hands full, Tomiko-san."

Tomiko sighed. "Fon." She lowered her hand on I-pin. "You should stop spying on I-pin and actually approach her for a change."

"The best way to learn about someone is to watch them from the shadows." Fon walked up to I-pin, who was still clutching onto Tomiko. "How are you, I-pin?"

"…Shishou-sama…" I-pin would have cried but happened to have drained herself a few minutes prior. She sniffled instead and ran to Fon.

…

"Tomiko-nee, where do I put this?" Fuuta carried the box of wagashi inside.

"Please put it in the dining room, Fuuta. I imagine that Kyoya would want them soon." Tomiko opened the box after Fuuta slid it onto the table.

"…Is Hibari-nii still mad?" Lambo tightened his grip slightly in fear.

"Ah… I think I will need to make hamburger steak tonight…" Tomiko sighed.

"I'll help!" Fuuta ran to the kitchen and grabbed an apron.

Tomiko chuckled. "Lambo, when are you going to start learning how to cook?"

"Don't need to." Taking out a piece of grape candy, Lambo placed it in his mouth. "Don't need to. I can live off of candy~"

"You mean live off of other people's cooking." Tomiko sighed as she placed him on the counter. "Watch for Kyoya's return then."

Lambo grabbed Tomiko like a life line. "… Miko-nee, you know, I've always wanted to learn how to cook."

…

"Alaude. Still alive?" Giobird turned to the newly arrived bird.

Alaubird huffed. "I was never alive." He turned to Tomiko. "The little cloud calmed down enough to not murder the next herbivore he sees."

Tomiko sighed in relief. "That's good… thank you, Alaude."

"French dinner."

"I made it already. The last thing I need is two angry clouds." Tomiko walked to the dining room, watching Alaubird fly to the food. Seeing him content, she turned to address the angry cloud. "Kyoya."

"Hn." Kyoya walked into the dining room. He glanced at Tomiko questioningly.

"I-pin, Lambo and Fuuta are here. I-pin is with Fon right now. Fuuta and Lambo are asleep in the next room." Tomiko explained. "I'll take them home tomorrow." She pointed to the table. "There's hamburger steak and kaa-san made some wagashi.

Kyoya nodded, taking a seat. "The herbivorous herbivorous herbivores."

Tomiko sweat dropped at the title. "… I told Shoichi to dig into it. We will go on offence the next time they pull a stunt." She reassured. "Shoichi should have a hold on their weapon source soon. We will liquidate their connections anonymously. I know you don't like it but its safest this way."

"…" Kyoya indeed didn't like the idea, however he didn't have much of a choice right now. "Fine. You plan to contact the mist herbivore soon?"

"Yeah. The battles won't be for another few weeks though, at least until after the exams."


End file.
